OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is rejecting assertions that his party’s attacks on the Omar Khadr settlement in U.S. media could hamper upcoming NAFTA negotiations, claiming any negative consequences of the move should fall on Justin Trudeau’s shoulders.

Scheer was responding Thursday to accusations that partisan bickering south of the border on the controversial Khadr deal — reported to be worth $10.5 million — could impact Canada’s relationship with the U.S. just weeks before talks to change the 23-year-old trade deal with the U.S. and Mexico are set to begin.

Trudeau himself told reporters in Barrie on Thursday that NAFTA negotiations are “too important to fall into partisanship.” That comes after Gerald Butts, a high-ranking Liberal and advisor to Trudeau, said on Twitter that Conservatives had mounted an “aggressive anti-PM” campaign on the Khadr issue in U.S. media. At least three Tory MPs have appeared in print and on TV in the U.S. in recent days to criticize the payout.

Scheer argued that the government is simply trying to use NAFTA to deflect attention from their payout to Khadr, which Trudeau has argued was necessary to avoid an even costlier court battle over how the former child soldier’s human rights were violated during his lengthy stay in the notorious American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“They can’t just say, ‘Please give us a pass because it’s affecting this other issue.’ I don’t believe that it does, and I don’t believe that it justifies not being critical,” Scheer said.

“If they were so concerned about the backlash, I would ask: did they give anyone in the U.S. a heads up? Did they let their negotiating team in Washington know that this was coming? … There were other options. The prime minister did not have to do this.”

Khadr was a teenager fighting in Afghanistan when he was captured by U.S. forces in 2002. He confessed to killing an army medic as part of a plea deal in 2010.

Khadr was later repatriated to Canada to serve out his prison sentence and recanted his confession.

The Conservative leader, who was elected by party members in May, made the comments during a press conference to unveil his new House of Commons leadership team, whose faces were displayed on trading cards handed out to reporters.

Lisa Raitt, the Milton MP who ran against Scheer in the leadership race, will be his deputy leader. Alain Rayes is Scheer’s “Quebec political lieutenant,” while B.C. MP Mark Strahl is the new party whip, Manitoba’s Candice Bergen remains house leader and Alberta MP Chris Warkentin is deputy house leader.

But talk quickly turned to NAFTA, just days after the U.S. published its list of priorities for the renegotiation of the deal, which was long promised by President Donald Trump. The Americans have also announced that talks are slated to begin in Washington Aug. 16.

The U.S. wants to shrink its trade deficit, improve market access for American companies and dismantle the dispute panel that has ruled in Canada’s favour in arguments over softwood lumber and other products.

Some MPs in Ottawa are calling on the government to share its objectives for the renegotiation. NDP trade critic Tracey Ramsey plans to push the House of Commons trade committee to invite Trudeau, foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland and Canada’s lead NAFTA negotiator to come answer questions when they meet on Friday.

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