Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appealed to U.S. Democrats in Congress today to pass the new North American trade agreement, insisting the revised deal includes progressive provisions on issues like labour and the environment Democrats "care deeply about."

During a news conference in Ottawa after meeting with U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, Trudeau said that while some Canadian Conservative politicians opposed such measures, his government saw them as "integral" to drafting a better deal.

"They are significant things that we look to the U.S. Democrats to understand are significant improvements and are issues that, like Canadian Liberals, they care deeply about," he said. "So we are confident that the work being done on ratification is possible because we made sure that, from multiple angles, this was a better deal for Americans, for Canadians and for Mexicans."

Democrats in Congress have expressed reservations about the deal — dubbed the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) by the Trump administration — saying it falls short on environmental protections, labour standards and the ability to enforce them in Mexico, the dispute resolution process and measures they fear could make drug prices more expensive...

This was excerpted from the 30 May 2019 edition of CBC News.