Canada is well regarded south of the border, so Prime Minister Justin Trudeau need not be "enormously worried" about a looming overhaul in U.S. trade policy under Donald Trump, an adviser to the new administration said Monday.
Stephen Schwarzman, who leads the president's Strategic and Policy Forum, said Canada will be in a good position should there be a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"There may be some modifications, but basically things should go well for Canada in terms of any discussions with the United States," said Schwarzman, who was in Calgary for meetings with Trudeau and his federal cabinet.
Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group investment firm, met privately with Trudeau and with ministers as part of a two-day cabinet retreat where the challenges posed by a Trump presidency were expected to dominate the agenda.
Trump has famously promised a new trade relationship with the world focusing on American interests -- indeed, he made good on one part of that promise Monday by signing an order killing off the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Schwarzman said the Trump administration is more concerned with agreements in which there are big trade imbalances, which is not the situation with Canada. Americans hold an "unusually positive" view of Canada and the two countries have been great partners "for as long as anybody can remember," he added.
David MacNaughton, Canada's ambassador to the United States, has suggested bilateral agreements outside of NAFTA are a possibility.
It is vital to have a good economic relationship with the U.S., and while some matters may be dealt with inside the controversial Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement, which Trump has promised to revisit, others may be better handled outside it, he said.
On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer suggested Trump will meet with both Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in the next month or so to talk about how best to proceed on renegotiations.
Blowing up the agreement might not necessarily have to happen, he hinted.
"As (Trump) meets with both of these individuals over the next 30 days or so, that's going to be a topic," Spicer said during his first official media briefing in his role as press secretary.
"Now, if they come in and express a willingness to (renegotiate), you could negotiate it within the current parameters and update it through the existing structure. If they don't and he decides to pull out, then we will have to go back to the drawing table in the future."
The danger, MacNaughton warned, is that Canada becomes "collateral damage" as Washington aims at what it sees as predatory trading partners.
"It's essential that we get a better Canada-U.S. trade and economic and security relationship," he said.
"We will co-operate on trilateral matters when it's in our interest and we'll be looking to do things that are in our interest bilaterally. Some of them may be within NAFTA and some of them may not be."
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada has a strong relationship with Mexico and is happy to be part of NAFTA.
"But of course our relationship with the United States is primarily a bilateral relationship, and I think Canadians know and understand that."
Meanwhile, other ministers Monday did their level best to send a business-as-usual signal -- notably Finance Minister Bill Morneau, whose federal budget is expected next month.
"The necessity for us to work together in a collegial fashion with the United States is no different today than it was last year or will be next year," Morneau said.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the Trump and Trudeau governments can work together -- "he's a businessman," she said -- even though the U.S. president is a staunch supporter of coal and has in the past expressed doubts about the science of climate change.
Renegotiating NAFTA offers a chance to address its flaws, said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff -- who takes particular issue with a chapter that allows investors the ability to sue foreign governments.
The group is meeting with other unions Tuesday in Ottawa to gird for the coming talks.
"We're optimistic that something positive can come out of this but ... we are dealing with a president who is quite erratic and we are not sure exactly what it is that he wants to do," Yussuff said in an interview.
"This a moment to figure out 'Can we make trade more fair? Can we make it more equal? Can we ensure the benefits of trade are not just for the corporations?"'
