Premier Kathleen Wynne is going on a charm offensive with U.S. governors to keep trade flowing stateside in the new protectionist Trump era.
Wynne, who met with Canada’s ambassador to Washington David MacNaughton on Wednesday at Queen’s Park, said relations with American states are on the front-burner.
The premier said she would travel to the National Governors Association meeting in Rhode Island for that July 13-16 summit of state leaders.
In October, she and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will co-host a summit of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence governors and premiers in Detroit and Windsor.
“Ontario-U.S. trade is critical for our businesses and our workers,” Wynne said, noting each day there is more than $1 billion of trade between the province and American states.
“Last month I sent letters to the 27 governors of states that rank Ontario as a top customer, underlining the positive impact our trade creates for U.S. and Canadian workers,” she added.
“As I follow up by speaking directly with many of those governors this month, our government is taking several steps to ensure Ontario workers and businesses are well represented going forward.”
MacNaughton – no stranger to Queen’s Park as he was principal secretary to former premier Dalton McGuinty more than a decade ago – welcomed Wynne’s help in promoting trade.
“I think we’ve fallen down a bit on the job in terms of convincing them about how their prosperity and their prosperity are so linked,” said the ambassador, whose visit came after Monday’s meeting at the White House between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and new President Donald Trump.
“That’s why the reaching out – not just to Washington but to the governors and legislators right across the United States – is so important.”
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