Politics Briefing: Trudeau calls Trump over tariffs

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Good morning,

President Donald Trump has officially dragged NAFTA into the looming fight over newly announced tariffs, warning Canada and Mexico that they will need to agree to a re-negotiated trade deal if they want to insulate their steel and aluminium industries. Canada and Mexico insist the two issues should have nothing to do with each other, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he warned Mr. Trump against the proposed tariffs in a telephone call. But the Trump administration has a warning of its own: Time is running out to reach a deal on NAFTA, and fixing the trade deal is the only way to stop the tariffs.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam in Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY'S HEADLINES

North Korea has agreed to discuss laying down its nuclear arms and will hold peace talks with South Korea, a top security official said. "The North side clearly affirmed its commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and said it would have no reason to possess nuclear weapons should the safety of its regime be guaranteed and military threats against North Korea removed," said South Korean security adviser Chung Eui-yong.

The government's proposed compensation deal with victims of the Sixties Scoop may be in jeopardy as they raise concerns with the details of the deal.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney is stumping for his daughter Caroline Mulroney in the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race. But Mr. Mulroney insists it has nothing to do with his daughter's apparent slide in the polls just days before a leadership vote that is seen as a two-way race between former Tory legislator Christine Elliott and former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford.

Only one person is running for the PC nomination in an Ottawa riding that had faced allegations of voting irregularities.

The Ontario government is expected to table legislation today aimed at closing the gender wage gap by requiring all publicly advertised job postings to include a salary rate or range. The legislation would also bar employers from asking about past compensation and prohibit reprisal against employees who do discuss or disclose compensation.
Quebec's Liberal government has lost its sixth member in the past seven months as the Liberals fall in the polls ahead of a fall election. Jean-Marc Fournier, the 58-year-old Liberal House Leader, insisted his departure has nothing to do with the party's perceived problems, but rather he says the Liberals need new candidates to regain voter trust.

The leader of Alberta's United Conservative Party says if he becomes premier he would ensure British Columbia suffers "serious consequences" if that province blocks the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Jason Kenney, who was in B.C. yesterday, says a UCP government would consider slapping a toll on B.C.'s natural gas shipments through Alberta.

The former leader of Alberta's Wildrose Party, Brian Jean, has resigned his seat in the provincial legislature. Mr. Jean lost his bid to lead the United Conservative Party, the result of a merger between the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose.

The B.C. government is targeting bad drivers with insurance rate increases as it attempts to rein in losses at its publicly owned auto insurer. The government has launched consultations as it determines just how bad a driver needs to be before they are forced to pay higher rates.

The BC Liberals say they had no idea a member of the party's executive was arrested a month ago on two dozen sex-related charges until the charges surfaced in the media last Friday. The party says Luke Strimbold, the former mayor of Burns Lake, should have disclosed the allegations, which have not been tested in court.

Newfoundland and Labrador is being urged to provide universal coverage for the abortion pill. It is currently the only province in Canada not to offer some level of coverage.

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Trump's tariffs: "As frustrating as it might be in the face of Mr. Trump's bluster and provocations, it is far better for Canada to wait and respond rationally, without descending into a trade war against a far bigger adversary."

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on NAFTA: "Mr. Trump made U.S. leverage an explicit part of his global trade policy, but it primarily named China and Mexico. Now it is an explicit part of U.S. trade relations with Canada, in the form of a naked threat."

Kathleen Wynne (The Globe and Mail) on U.S. protectionism: "We are swimming against a rising tide of protectionist sentiment in the United States – a current that only grew stronger last week with U.S. President Donald Trump's wrong-headed attack on the steel and aluminum industries."

Lawrence Herman (The Globe and Mail) on the tariffs: "Mr. Trump's latest foray into unilateralism does damage by unravelling more than 70 years of statecraft, whereby governments carefully avoided trade restrictions under claims of national security, recognizing the incalculable damage it would do to global business and commerce."

Andrew Coyne (National Post) on the tariffs: "In particular, we should avoid the urge to levy tit-for-tat tariffs on imports of products from the United States, such as the Europeans are threatening to impose on American motorcycles, blue jeans and bourbon. Trade war is unlike real war in one crucial respect: the guns are pointed inward."

Margaret Wente (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau's identity politics: "The Liberals have a long and robust tradition of pandering to ethnic voters. Now they have divided everyone but white men into minority groups. It's all about identity politics now. The fight for a colour- and gender-blind society has been replaced by a vision that sees nothing but."

Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star) on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's appearance on Quebec TV: "Liberal strategists are banking on gains in Quebec — largely at the expense of the NDP — to hold on to power and a majority government in next year's general election. They may want to remind themselves that the province's most reliable federal trend over the past few elections has been its capacity to spring surprises on the rest of the country."

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