(Ottawa) The presidents of Canada’s major banks were urging the federal government to put an end to convoys of trucks blocking the Ambassador Bridge and other border crossings, the day before the use of the Emergency Measures Act. They feared a devastating impact on the Canadian economy and Canada’s reputation.
An emergency meeting had been organized between them and the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, on February 13. The objective was to discuss solutions to end the “freedom convoy” and, above all, the blockages of trade corridors.
A report of this discussion was filed Thursday with the Commission on the state of emergency and gives an overview of the state of mind of bank leaders. Their names and those of their institutions are redacted.
One of them had just returned from a stay in the United States where an investor had told him: “I will no longer invest a penny in your banana republic in Canada. »
“If the investor you’re talking about is American, tell him we’re not like the United States where people have outright invaded their legislature,” Minister Freeland replied, referring to the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The anxiety was at its peak. The Canadian economy was barely recovering from the pandemic. The government was preparing for a trade war with the United States and feared that the closure of the Ambassador Bridge at Windsor, Ontario, would further fuel protectionism south of the border. President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” program was already threatening the Canadian auto industry.
Minister Freeland testified Thursday that the Canadian government had already prepared a list of retaliatory measures that would have hit $100 billion in US imports into the country if this program went ahead.
“We didn’t save NAFTA just to be ruined,” she wrote on the morning of February 14 to Flavio Volpe, who is head of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association. . The one who also wears the hat of Deputy Prime Minister then said she was “determined to take strong measures”. Minister Freeland led the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico in 2019.
More details to come.