A major shift in the British political landscape following Thursday’s election has rekindled hopes in Canada of a transatlantic free trade agreement.
Keir Starmer, who was appointed by King Charles III following the resignation of Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, officially became the UK Prime Minister on Friday morning. British voters handed the Labour Party a landslide victory, winning 412 of the 650 seats in Parliament, and handed the Conservative Party a historic defeat.
Achim Hallerman, a political science professor at Carleton University, said Canada and Britain maintain strong ties.
“Although the Liberal Party (in Canada) and the Conservative Party in the UK are different parties, they have generally worked well together on international and trade issues,” he said.
However, negotiations on a free trade agreement that began after Brexit collapsed in January.
One of the key issues in the talks was Britain’s desire to export more British cheese across the Atlantic, with Canada’s dairy quota exemption set to expire at the end of 2023.
Martin Buckle, director of the British Canada Trade Chamber, said he was “very surprised” to see the UK government pull out of the negotiations because the dairy issue was well known.
“We hope that the new government will revisit this issue and make a serious effort to negotiate well and find some kind of solution with Canada,” he said.
Concerns were also raised about UK rules banning the sale of hormone-treated beef from Canada, and rules of origin in the automotive sector.
A continuity agreement has been signed, keeping most of the old European Union’s trade rules in place until a different agreement is signed.
The UK is Canada’s fourth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth approximately $45 billion annually.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated the new premier in a statement Friday morning and said the two sides would work toward reaching a trade agreement.
“Our two countries enjoy a strong economic relationship and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Starmer to further strengthen that relationship,” Trudeau said.
Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development Mary Ng said she was “very confident” the two sides would return to the negotiating table.
“We will advance our relationship through progressive action on shared priorities like clean technology, human rights, gender equality, and building a more equitable economy for every generation.”
Labour has pledged to rebuild international relations and start striking trade deals, and its election manifesto says it will not reverse Brexit but will work to “remove unnecessary trade barriers” with the EU.
While the document makes no specific mention of trade with Canada, Buckle said he hopes this reflects the fact that there are greater concerns around trade with Europe in the post-Brexit era.
Renegotiations may take time.
But Harrelman said the fundamental issues in the trade negotiations with Canada remain the same and remain largely bipartisan. He said he doesn’t see any urgency to return to the negotiating table.
“I spoke to British trade negotiators a few months ago and they said these issues were not important enough to make major concessions that would hurt the government’s position with domestic constituencies, such as Canada’s dairy trade associations,” Hallerman said.
But he said there may be lessons for Canadian politicians in the crushing defeat of an administration that has been in power for more than 14 years and is widely seen as “not paying enough attention to the everyday concerns of the people.”
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party has been in power for nine years, and the next federal election is due to be held no later than October 2025.
Calls for Trudeau to step down have grown in recent weeks, with everyone from critics to former cabinet ministers to current party members pondering what a future would be like without him at the helm.
Hallerman said Britain’s Conservative Party may serve as a warning to those hoping a new Liberal leader can turn around the tide of the party’s struggling polls.
Since Boris Johnson was forced to resign, the Conservative Party has had three prime ministers in just over two years, with Liz Truss’ disastrous term in power lasting just 45 days.
Hallerman said this suggests that “when there are large-scale trends in public opinion, simply changing the face of the prime minister is not going to produce change.”
