A prominent Canadian steel executive told MPs this week that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's "ego" is getting in the way of ending American tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Barry Zekelman, the chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, delivered a scathing assessment Thursday of how the Liberal government is handling the tariff fight with the United States, accusing the government of squandering opportunities to resolve the issue months ago.
Zekelman, a Windsor, Ont. native who heads a steel empire that has operations in both Canada and the U.S, was asked by MPs about the impact of tariffs on his Canadian operations.
"They have stalled and blown this big time, and our consumers and our industry in Canada is suffering because of it," Zekelman told MPs on the standing committee on international trade.
"We're waiting for someone's ego. They need to get into a room and get the deal done ... whether Freeland picks up the phone and calls (U.S. Trade Representative) Robert Lighthizer and says here it is ... the deal is available this afternoon."...
This was excerpted from the 18 October 2018 edition of CBC News.