PAIN COURT , Ont. – Ontario Premier Doug Ford says any NAFTA deal must protect jobs in the province’s agricultural sector.
He says farming jobs can’t be used as a bargaining chip in the trade talks, in which Canada’s supply management for dairy and poultry products has been a point of contention.
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The premier made his comments at a rural expo known as the International Plowing Match a day before he heads to Washington for a NAFTA briefing.
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The annual expo comes in the middle of a tense time for the government, as Ford and his Progressive Conservatives work to pass a bill that would cut the size of Toronto city council in the middle of an election campaign.
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Opponents have been highly critical of the bill, which is proceeding after Ford invoked a constitutional provision known as the notwithstanding clause to override a court ruling that found the council-cutting plan violated voter and candidate rights.
A small group of protesters opposed to Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause heckled the premier during this remarks at the plowing match.
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