Ottawa, ON – Eric Duncan, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Stephanie Kusie, Conservative Shadow Minister for International Trade, released the following statement on the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia:
“Despite running on a promise to diversify trade and build ‘at speeds not seen in generations’, Canadians are still waiting for Prime Minister Mark Carney to bridge the gulf between rhetoric and reality.
“The recent announcement of a number of non-binding memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Saudi Arabia, including to create a ‘Coordination Council’, fits a well-established pattern of high profile visits that are short on actionable results.
“In fact, since taking office, the Prime Minister has still not negotiated a single new trade deal: there isn’t an agreement to get our resources to Europe, nor one with our largest trading partner (despite saying he would deliver it by July of last year).
“We’ve seen where this gap between appearance and results leads, with Carney’s own Major Projects Office unable to deploy $70 billion in investment from the United Arab Emirates for lack of projects to fund.
“Summits, meetings, councils and agreements matter when they lead to real outcomes for Canadians.
“Conservatives will always fight to make Canada stronger at home and build unbreakable leverage abroad so that our people have the security and opportunities they need to thrive.”