Multiple members have ties to Canadian ag
Canadian agriculture will have a voice around the table of Prime Minister Carney’s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations.
The 25-member committee “will serve as a forum for expertise and strategy on all aspects of the Canada-U.S. economic relationship” as this summer’s CUSMA review inches closer, an April 21 statement says.
Multiple people on the committee have direct ties to Canada’s ag sector.
One is Michael Harvey, the executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) since 2023.
Serving on this committee “presents our sector with an important opportunity to drive exporter priorities into action, including maintaining reliable cross-border trade, addressing emerging barriers, and strengthening the framework that underpins North American food production,” he said in an April 21 statement.
In his role at CAFTA, Harvey has advocated for sustainable trade relationships.
In June 2025, CAFTA expressed concern over Bill C-202, which protects supply management in trade deals, saying the bill sends a wrong message to trading partners.
And in November he and other industry members went to Washington to underscore the benefits of CUSMA and highlight that “certainty is the currency of trade.”
Two members of the prime minister’s new committee have connections to Nutrien.
One is Ken Seitz, the company’s president and CEO since August 2022.
During a February 2025 conference call, he warned that any U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports like farm inputs would hurt U.S. farmers.
“So ultimately, we expect that if tariffs were imposed, it would probably hit the market and hit farmers after the spring planting season,” he said during the call.
The other person on the committee with ties to Nutrien is Candace Laing.
She spent 10 years with Nutrien as its senior vice president and chief human resources officer, and as vice president of sustainability and stakeholder relations.
Since September 2024 she’s been the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Upon being named to the committee, Laing said the partnership between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, “has been central to the success of many of the over 200,000 businesses we represent.”
Also representing Canadian ag is Émile Cordeau, the CEO of Agropur.
In February 2025, Cordeau revealed that an unstable trade relationship with the U.S. has Agropur rethinking some investments like initiatives to reduce the waste of non-fat solids.
Another person on the committee with connections to Canada’s ag sector is Ralph Goodale.
He grew up on his family’s Saskatchewan farm before serving as a Liberal MP, then as Canada’s federal ag minister from 1993 to 1997.
During his time as ag minister he helped develop new financial tools for producers through Farm Credit Corporation (which became Farm Credit Canada in 2001).
And in March 1994, Goodale spoke of trade with the U.S. and how those discussions should go.
“First of all, in our discussions with the United States, Canada will not trade off one commodity against another. Each must be dealt with independently on its own merits,” he said in the House of Commons. “Second, any agreement we might contemplate with the United States must be fair and reasonable and in the Canadian national interest. A bad deal for Canada will not be acceptable to this government.”
Tracy Robinson, the president and CEO of Canadian National Railway, is also on the committee.
CN handles more than half of Western Canada’s grain movement and shipped more than 31.3 million metric tonnes of grain in 2025.
The committee is scheduled to have its first meeting on April 27.