Politics Insider: Canada must aim for ‘diminished reliance’ upon the U.S., Harper says

Politics Insider: Canada must aim for ‘diminished reliance’ upon the U.S., Harper says IAN BAILEY OTTAWA PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today. Former prime minister Stephen Harper said Canada has no choice but to look for opportunities beyond engagement with the United States given the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump. One of Canada’s most prominent Conservatives, Harper was the concluding speaker at the Canada Investment Summit organized by the government of Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney. In the past, Harper appointed Carney as governor of the Bank of Canada, a post that Carney held from 2008 to 2013. As Harper began a speech that ran about 20 minutes, he joked that Carney took a risk by allowing him to speak. “The Prime Minister said to me yesterday, `I really want to thank you for doing this.’ I said, `Well, you may want to wait to see what I am going to say first.’” But Harper was supportive of the Carney government’s recent move to walk away from trade talks with the United States, saying they had no choice but to do so given continuing violations of our trade agreement by the U.S. “I say that as one who has long been and known to be a great admirer of America and one who believes our close proximity and close relationship to the United States has been among this country’s most precious assets,” Harper said. “However, it is clear that the current U.S. administration views our level of economic integration as incompatible with our separate sovereignty. Thus to maintain that sovereignty we must pursue diminished reliance upon the United States.” He added, “There will be significant costs to this effort, but those are costs that I hope and believe that Canadians are able and prepared to accept.” Harper said it’s a sad situation, but also necessary. “I believe that in this necessity, our country will also discover, and is discovering, opportunity,” he said. “This will be an opportunity for Canada to rediscover a long-term economic prosperity for Canada, an opportunity to realize our true potential as a country, which I believe, to be frank, we have come nowhere close to achieving.” The former prime minister said he congratulated the current government on measures it has taken to fast-track major project approvals, especially…