Susan Delacourt: Ottawa worried Ford´s Washington visit could impact NAFTA talks
(The Star Food)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reportedly let Ottawa know late last week that he was headed to Washington on Wednesday to pay a call on the Canada-U.S. trade talks.Ford also assured reporters on Tuesday that he continues to stand “shoulder to shoulder� with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government in the negotiations over NAFTA’s fate. But privately, there is some nervousness within the Trudeau government about what Ford hopes to accomplish with his flying visit into the U.S. capital — especially as Donald Trump and prominent Republicans are ramping up the rhetoric this week against Canada. Any suggestion that Canada doesn’t speak with one voice, or that it’s anxious for a deal at any cost could work against this country at the negotiating table, one federal source close to the talks said on Tuesday. “We’re only close to a deal because the Americans think we won’t take a bad one,� the source said. “And they think that we can take that stance because the country is united behind us.� Read more: U.S. lawmaker ramps up NAFTA pressure as Freeland heads to Washington for more talksFord heads to Washington to talk trade amid NAFTA negotiationsSusan Delacourt | Opinion: With the White House in turmoil, Canada’s NAFTA team studiously avoids the daily dramaThat’s the big question, then, as Ford heads to the U.S. capital on Wednesday — is there enough goodwill between the Trudeau Liberals and the Ford Conservatives to pull off this diplomatic dance in D.C.? So far, Liberals and Conservatives generally have been making a great show of patriotic solidarity when they’re talking trade — at least when it’s taking place in the United States. Prominent former cabinet ministers such as James Moore and Rona Ambrose are on the advisory committee and former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been talking regularly to the Trudeau team. But back here in Canada, federal Conserv ...