Canada won’t walk away from trade talks with UK over Irish border issues: Ralph Goodale – National

Canada’s envoy to the UK has said Ottawa will not suspend trade talks with the UK government over concerns over the Irish border.

Britain has announced its intention to amend its agreement with the European Union, which could eventually restore a border between the Northern Ireland region and the Republic of Ireland.

It raised fears of a return to the decades of violence that ended with a 1998 peace accord, which made the border almost invisible.

Last week, Sinn Fein MP John Finucane came to Ottawa and called on Canada to halt trade talks until London changed course.

Canada’s High Commissioner to Britain, Ralph Goodale, said it would amount to « a veiled threat ».

He says Ottawa will instead offer help to avoid a dispute while continuing trade negotiations.