Readout of Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s call with Prime Minister Trudeau today

November 27, 2020

Late this afternoon, Erin O’Toole spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau by phone.

With the election of President-elect Biden in the United States, Mr. O’Toole reiterated the need for collaboration with the incoming Biden-Harris administration on several issues of mutual interest.

As Canada and the United States continue to battle COVID-19, Mr. O’Toole underscored the importance of Canadian and American governments working on a collaborative approach to the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of ensuring a stable and effective supply of vaccines. He also noted the need for more publicly available data to help Canadians make informed decisions about COVID-19.

Mr. O’Toole spoke about the threat Communist China poses to both Canada and the United States and the need for Prime Minister Trudeau to clearly express our desire to work more closely to counter China. Specifically, he highlighted Canada’s notable absence from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that the United States is looking to establish with Australia, India, and Japan.

Mr. O’Toole also spoke to Prime Minister Trudeau about the vital importance of Keystone XL to Canada and the need to make this clear to the incoming Biden administration. He offered his support to ensure this project moves forward, and urged that the completion of this project be paramount in Canada’s view of the bilateral relationship.

As well, Mr. O’Toole raised the fact that collaboration between Canada the United States on environmental standards provides an opportunity to make meaningful environmental progress with the world’s second-largest emitter and to protect the economic viability of our industries, including Canada’s energy sector. Mr. O’Toole also noted his willingness to support Net Zero legislation provided it supports Canadian industries, including our world-leading oil and gas industry, which ascribes to the highest environmental, social, and corporate governance standards in the world.

They also discussed the modernization of the NORAD agreement, with Mr. O’Toole pressing that it is in Canada’s national interest to become a complete partner.

Mr. O’Toole and Prime Minister Trudeau ended the meeting by reaffirming the importance of eliminating COVID-19 and by wishing their families well.