Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

Damage Control Needed On Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney's India Trip: Trade Minister

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 19 Sep, 2018 12:28 PM
    EDMONTON — The Alberta government says it will be doing "damage control" after Opposition leader Jason Kenney's visit to India.
     
     
    Trade Minister Deron Bilous says there appears to be confusion in India over who Kenney is speaking for and questions over what he is saying as he meets this week with business and political leaders.
     
     
    "There's already been confusion," Bilous said Tuesday, citing a social media post from an Indian government cabinet minister who referred to Kenney as a minister of the Crown. "We don't know exactly what he is saying, how he is portraying himself."
     
     
    Bilous said Kenney doesn't speak on behalf of the government of Alberta or the government of Canada.
     
     
    "What we don't know is if he is clarifying where there are misunderstandings ... but we're not about to let this visit of Mr. Kenney's potentially damage the government of Alberta's relationship with India."
     
     
    Bilous said they will do follow-up work to deal with any confusion.
     
     
    "We've directed our Alberta trade office to do damage control, correcting the record wherever we can," he said.
     
     
    "They'll be doing follow-up conversations with all of the Indian officials that Mr. Kenney meets with."
     
     
    Kenney and two caucus members are using their own money and United Conservative Party funds for the trip to promote Alberta's oil industry and express concerns about Indian tariffs on peas and lentils.
     
     
    Nitin Gadkari, the minister responsible for roads and other resources, tweeted out this week, "Met Mr. Jason Kenney, Hon'ble Minister, Alberta, Canada. We discussed about exploring areas of mutual co-operation in infrastructure sector."
     
    Kenney has also given multiple interviews with media in that country making statements that appear to conflict with ones made earlier in Alberta.
     
     
    Speaking to CNN-News18, he urged Indians to invest, saying, "Canada, amongst the developed countries — Alberta in particular — have low taxes. We have one of the best educated workforces, efficient power prices. We have a lot of strategic advantages for that kind of investment."
     
     
    Kenney's UCP has, in fact, been sharply critical of Premier Rachel Notley's power pricing system and its tax regime.
     
     
    Two months ago, Kenney said the current Alberta tax program was not luring investment but in fact undermining it, and that if his party forms government, he will axe the existing carbon tax and then look at further tax reductions.
     
     
    "I want to cut other taxes to help bring back investment and get people working again," Kenney said in a PostMedia interview published July 12.
     
     
    Bilous said he hopes Albertans are scratching their heads.
     
     
    "Mr. Kenney is saying one thing to Albertans and another to an international audience," he said.
     
     
    "This is where it is critical that our Alberta office in India will be following up with all the officials that Mr. Kenney meets with."
     
     
    UCP spokeswoman Christine Myatt said Kenney connected with Bilous prior to the trip and is working to build a positive "Team Alberta" approach.
     
     
    "It is disappointing to hear the minister suggest that Mr. Kenney’s visit to India has or will in any way hurt Alberta," Myatt said in a statement.
     
     
    "Mr. Kenney is more than happy to forward Alberta and Canada's interests while in India, utilizing his high-level international connections.
     
     
    "It's quite clear that this latest NDP smear job is a desperate attempt to distract from its disastrous record.”
     
     
    Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier has led two trade missions to India over the last two years on behalf of the province.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Strong Early-morning Oregon Quake Felt In Vancouver And Sidney, B.C.

    Strong Early-morning Oregon Quake Felt In Vancouver And Sidney, B.C.
     A magnitude 6.2 earthquake that hit nearly 300 kilometres off the south-central coast of Oregon early this morning was strong enough to be felt in British Columbia.

    Strong Early-morning Oregon Quake Felt In Vancouver And Sidney, B.C.

    VIDEO: Indian Man Rahul Kumar Racially Abused In Edmonton, Called 'Loser' With 'S**t-Coloured Skin'

    VIDEO: Indian Man Rahul Kumar Racially Abused In Edmonton, Called 'Loser' With 'S**t-Coloured Skin'
    An Indian man has been racially abused in Canada over a parking dispute by a white woman who yelled "go back to your country" and called him "Paki with sh*t-coloured skin", the media reported.

    VIDEO: Indian Man Rahul Kumar Racially Abused In Edmonton, Called 'Loser' With 'S**t-Coloured Skin'

    Police Identify Surrey Man Killed In Fight At Mcdonald's As 48-Yr-Old LAKHWINDER SINGH BAL

    Police Identify Surrey Man Killed In Fight At Mcdonald's As 48-Yr-Old LAKHWINDER SINGH BAL
    Police say a man who was severely injured in a fight in Surrey, B.C., has died and detectives don't believe the homicide was a random act.

    Police Identify Surrey Man Killed In Fight At Mcdonald's As 48-Yr-Old LAKHWINDER SINGH BAL

    Toronto Resident Stuck In Kerala Recounts Days In Flooded Neighbourhood

    Toronto Resident Stuck In Kerala Recounts Days In Flooded Neighbourhood
    A Toronto resident visiting family in the Indian state of Kerala says major floods in the region left him and his relatives largely confined to a home without power for days as flooded roads prevented them from leaving their neighbourhood.

    Toronto Resident Stuck In Kerala Recounts Days In Flooded Neighbourhood

    Archbishop Devastated By Sex Abuse Report: 'The Evil Goes Deeper Than Imagined'

    Archbishop Anthony Mancini condemns new reports of sexual abuse by priests, saying in a statement he is "devastated" and "ashamed" by the scandal.

    Archbishop Devastated By Sex Abuse Report: 'The Evil Goes Deeper Than Imagined'

    Four Killed, 5 In Hospital After Crash In Northern Ontario, Police Say

    Four Killed, 5 In Hospital After Crash In Northern Ontario, Police Say
    Police say four people are dead after a collision on a highway in northern Ontario.

    Four Killed, 5 In Hospital After Crash In Northern Ontario, Police Say