A spat between Canada and Australia is heating up as Australian officials signal they will block Canada's admission to Asia's premier security forum, the East Asia Summit, amid tensions over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

An Australian news report suggests that country's leadership has already rejected Canada's application to participate in the key forum because Australian trade officials were "gobsmacked" by Canada's behaviour on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) last week in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau skipped a planned meeting with the 10 other leaders of TPP countries while in Danang because he said Canada simply was not ready to sign a deal that is not yet in the best interest of Canadians. Liberal government officials have refuted international reports — notably from Australian and New Zealand news outlets — that suggested Canada alone was to blame for "screwed" TPP talks.

This was excerpted from the 18 November 2017 edition of CBC News.