Retired Canadian General Recruited To Deal With Trump Team

Muhammad Rameez Published January 18, 2017 | 11:00 PM

OTTAWA, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jan, 2017 ) : Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tasked a retired general Wednesday with helping Ottawa build bridges to Donald Trump's incoming incoming US administration.

Retired lieutenant general Andrew Leslie was appointed parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, a position from which he will help stickhandle Canada's most important bilateral relationship.

Leslie, who was elected to parliament last year, will "play a critical role in building ties with the new US administration," a government statement said. Leslie served 35 years in the Canadian military, including a deployment to the former Yugoslavia during the conflict in the Balkans.

Canadian media said he is a close friend of Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and soon-to-be Defense Secretary James Mattis. Trudeau told reporters he hopes to nurture a "constructive working relationship" with the Trump administration.

"That's why our ambassador and senior members of my team have been engaged with the incoming administration over the past weeks to talk about a broad range of issues," he said.

"Much of it focused on trade," he added, reflecting on the "millions of middle class jobs" both in Canada and the United States that rely on Canada-US free trade.

Trudeau last week reshuffled his cabinet, only one year into his mandate, to reflect the new reality in Washington. Notably, foreign affairs minister and Trump critic Stephane Dion was sacked and replaced by former trade minister Chrystia Freeland, a leading Russia critic who shares some of Trump's concerns that globalization is failing workers.

About 75 percent of Canadian exports last year went to the United States, through the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump has panned as the "worst deal in history." Canada has said it is open to renegotiating the 1994 pact with the United States and Mexico. In her new job, Freeland will maintain responsibilities for Canada-US trade issues.