Sask. Premier Moe urges separation of trade and national security in talks with India

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks about the significance of trade with India and whether he believes a free trade agreement will come to fruition.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada needs to separate its trade talks from its national security concerns when dealing with certain countries if it is serious about diversifying trading partners beyond the United States.

Moe joined Prime Minister Mark Carney this week on the first leg of his Indo-Pacific trade tour to India, Australia and Japan.

In India, Carney signed a series of deals and memorandum of understanding, including a $2.6-billion, multi-year deal that will see Saskatchewan-based Cameco supply India with millions of pounds of Uranium.

The prime minister faced criticism, however, for the significant relationship reset with India, after accusations from his predecessor and the RCMP that agents of the Indian government were linked to serious crimes in Canada, including murder.

“Two points on that: one is, the federal government needs to ensure that foreign interference from whatever country is not happening in our nation, and keep Canadians safe,” Moe told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday from New Delhi. “And two, when laws are broken, we do rely on the RCMP to enforce those laws and enforce them vigorously.”

“But we also have to remain at the table in countries where we have differences, and when you need to, not entirely, but largely, separate some of the trade conversations to a degree, from some of the other very difficult conversations that we have,” he added.

Asked whether there were discussions ahead of time among the Canadian contingent about whether or how to raise the issue of transnational repression with India, Moe said “not directly this time,” but that they have in the past.

And, when pressed on how he justifies engagement with India when former prime minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of that government of murder and extortion on Canadian soil, Moe said he trusts in the RCMP to complete its investigations.

“But I’d also say pushing ourselves as a nation away from discussions with, in this case, India, or any other any other country for that matter, within reason, that we just need to remain at the table, work through some of the challenging conversations that we have,” he said.

He added that India is one of the world’s most populous countries, and the largest democracy in the world. It is also a member of the G20.

Saskatchewan and India have a significant trading relationship, with more than $18 billion in exports to the South Asian country since 2007, according to the province. Saskatchewan also has a trade representative working in India.

India, meanwhile, still has tariffs in place on some key Canadian agricultural products, most of which come from Saskatchewan.

Asked by reporters this week whether he’s confident India is no longer engaging in transnational repression in Canada, Carney would not answer directly but said his government’s approach to the issue is one of “vigilance and engagement.”

“To engage, you have to be able to talk to countries,” he said. “Countries where there have been issues, and to raise issues — including at the highest levels — to ensure that the co-operation is there, whether it’s extortion, or some other form of cross-border criminal activity or security risk.”

“That is what we have done from the moment that we re-established a dialog at the leader level with India,” he added.

Despite the previously fraught relationship, Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have now met three times since last June. And, they announced in November they had agreed to launch negotiations towards a new Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with the goal of finalizing a deal by the end of this year.

In a bid to diversify Canada’s trade partners amid a now-year-long trade war with the United States, Carney has also signed a slate of deals with China, a country with which Canada has historically been at odds.

You can watch Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s full interview on CTV Question Period Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.