Nenshi says Chinese EV tariffs outside his 'pay grade'

OTTAWA — Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Friday that he wouldn’t join the chorus of Western Canadian political leaders calling on Ottawa to drop tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying the issue was beyond his depth.

“The ban on Chinese EVs (is) a little outside of my pay grade,” said Nenshi when asked about the issue at an unrelated press conference in Calgary.

He stressed that Canada needs to engage directly with China’s government to resolve the escalating trade war, which has inflicted heavy damage on farmers in Alberta and other western provinces, but said he “didn’t know” if Chinese electric vehicles would be “part of that deal.”

Nenshi called in a statement last month for both Ottawa and Alberta’s provincial government to negotiate with China and roll out supports fo