(OTTAWA) Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK, Ralph Goodale, has said Ottawa will not suspend trade talks with the UK government, despite concerns over the Irish border.
Posted at 3:23 p.m.
The United Kingdom has announced its intention to modify its agreement with the European Union, which could eventually lead to the reestablishment of a border between the Northern Ireland region and the Republic of Ireland.
This announcement raised fears of a return to the decades of violence that ended in 1998 with a peace agreement that made the border almost invisible.
Sinn Féin MP John Finucane came to Ottawa last week and called on Canada to halt trade talks until London changed course.
Mr Goodale said that would amount to “a veiled threat”.
He said Ottawa would instead offer help to avoid a dispute, while continuing trade negotiations.