'I am Team Canada in my blood': O'Toole says Carney's Canada-U.S. council more than a 'photo-op'

OTTAWA — Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole says before accepting the invitation to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s special committee on Canada-U.S. relations he sought assurances that it would be different than last time. 

That last time was under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose government convened a similar council to provide it perspective as it negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, a deal that now faces its first review this year.

“I found it was too symbolic last time,” O’Toole said in an interview on Tuesday, recalling some of the conversation he had with Janice Charette, whom Carney named as Canada’s chief negotiator to the U.S., and who reached out to the former party leader about the opportunity.

“I said to her, having been there last time, I have a few concerns. I don’t want to just be used in a photo-op around a board table at the first meeting. I want to talk about defence and security, not just trade because that was something we missed last time.”

O’Toole’s name was one of the most recognizable in the 24-person list of members who had accepted to be on a special advisory committee on Canada-U.S. economic relations that the Prime Minister’s Office announced early Tuesday, replacing a 19-person council Trudeau had established in January 2025 as U.S. President Donald Trump began threatening to impose tariffs on Canada.

Other names include Ralph Goodale, who recently served as Canada’s envoy to the United Kingdom and, before that, had served as a long-time Liberal cabinet minister from Regina, including in Trudeau’s government when it negotiated the existing Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). 

Lisa Raitt, who left politics in 2019 and had served as cabinet minister in the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper, which O’Toole had also served, was also named to the committee, as was P.J. Akeeagok, Nunavut’s former premier.

Other additions to the council include Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Bank of Montreal CEO Darryl White,.

O’Toole, who left politics in 2023 after having led the federal Conservatives from 2020 until 2022, said he took issue with how the former Trudeau government approached the advisory committee it struck, which he observed as an Opposition MP.

“I didn’t feel the process was bi-partisan,” said O’Toole, who now works as president of ADIT North America, a firm that focuses on security and trade.  

Speaking to Charette, a former Privy Council clerk who O’Toole says he has great respect for, he said, “I got a real reassurance that that’s the prime minister’s intention.”

“It seems really new and they seem very open to hearing what I thought,” he added.

Still, O’Toole felt the need to make a couple of calls first, one of which was to Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. He says he also spoke to Ontario Conservative MP Michael Chong, who serves as the party’s critic in Parliament on foreign affairs.

The reason, he said, was to ensure “there was no surprises.”

O’Toole recalled feeling that way when the Trudeau government struck its committee, seeing that Rona Ambrose, who had recently served as the party’s interim leader, was included “without letting any of us know.”

“I wanted to learn from the last process and every little thing I brought up they agreed,” O’Toole said when it came to his talks about the role.

He added that he wanted to talk to his party first to ensure he was not “some wedge that was just being used.”

“He’s had enough surprises, I didn’t want to be a surprise,” he said of Poilievre, who has seen four of his MPs defect to the Liberals in the past six months.

He said Poilievre encouraged him to take on the role, which O’Toole says he felt was important to do as part of his continued belief in serving Canada, one that he has carried since his time spent in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

“I am Team Canada in my blood,” he recalled saying to Charette.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Poilievre said “it’s great” to see O’Toole on the committee and suggested he was still open to seeing the prime minister strike a committee comprising of MPs from the different parties in Parliament.

Still, Poilievre criticized Carney over what he says has been a lack of progress and updates on his plan for the forthcoming review of CUSMA.

“He’s done absolutely nothing on the file in the last year other than use it to stoke fear and distract from his catastrophic failings here at home,” he said.

Poilievre pointed to how negotiating a win with Trump was the “singular promise” Carney made during last year’s federal election campaign.

The Conservative leader referenced the tariffs that remain in place on goods such as Canadian steel and aluminum, as well softwood lumber.

He also noted that Mexico would soon be beginning formal talks with the U.S.

A joint statement on Monday from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexico’s economy secretary announced plans to hold their first rounds of bilateral negotiations regarding the trade deal in May.

“And what has Mark Carney done, really, in a year on this,” Poilievre said on Tuesday. “He hasn’t held negotiations in five months.”

O’Toole said on Tuesday he largely agrees with the approach Carney has taken when it comes to trying to diversify trade and the language the prime minister has used to describe its relationship with the U.S. as a “rupture” and its close economic ties as having become one of the country’s “weaknesses,” as the prime minister said in a YouTube video released on Sunday.

That doesn’t mean he is without concerns, with O’Toole pointing to one of those being Carney’s decision to try and form closer trade ties with China as it looks to pivot away from as much reliance on the U.S.

When it comes to Poilievre’s statements, the former Conservative leader said he does agree with assertions that Carney is not making progress or lagging behind countries such as Mexico.

O’Toole said the U.S. will often make comments to that effect to add pressure. “They love isolating.”

Still, he believes Carney during last year’s election campaign established an expectation among Canadians that he would be securing a deal with the U.S.

“It’s very fair ball for Conservatives to say ‘where’s the beef on this,’ right?”

Besides those with political background, the committee also incudes several energy CEOs, including Jonathan Price, CEO of Teck Resources, a major mining company, Ken Seitz, CEO of Nutrien, the country’s largest potash producer and TC Energy CEO François Poirier.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Tuesday that the new council will make sure all voices are heard on each “different sector” of Canada’s economy.

“This is team Canada at its best, so I think we should all be happy with that,” Champagne said.

Champagne said that he will not speculate as to why there are no New Democrats in the council, but that it is rather a matter of who is available to serve and represent the country.

Additional names include Tracy Robinson, CEO of the Canadian National railway and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey. Jean Simard, CEO of Aluminum Association of Canada was also picked. 

Returning members include Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, former Quebec premier-turned-businessman Jean Charest and Lana Payne, national president of Unifor. 

National Post, with files from Josefine Lukaszek

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