POLITICO Q&A — It took Ontario more than two years to find a Washington envoy.
Former General Motors executive DAVID PATERSON started his role in late November but has yet to move to the U.S. capital. His three-year term, announced this week, isn’t expected to be a quiet one with a U.S. election and critical 2026 trade talks on the horizon. “I wasn't expecting to be doing this,” Paterson told Playbook. “I was retiring from General Motors, but I'm still a young pup and still have lots of ions in the battery, so to speak.” Playbook caught up with Paterson and his boss, Ontario Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI, on Wednesday to discuss Biden protectionism and the upcoming United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement review. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Mr. Paterson, you started your post Nov. 23, right? That was the effective appointment, yes. What have you been up to in the past two weeks? Haha! That's a great question. Let me see if I can be short: getting ready to move to Washington. I've been on the phone with so many sectors of the Ontario economy. It's a pretty exciting time. And I'm just thrilled to be able to sort of continue on as a business person, helping all those sectors to succeed. I was on the phone with the people in the U.S. embassy [on Wednesday] morning and I just can't wait to get down to Washington. Mr. Fedeli, what took so long to fill this position? Fedeli: Well, it was never about the speed. We wanted to make sure that we had the right person. We were in the middle of some U.S. dealings and we operated in that really critical time out of our own office here in Toronto, along with the ground staff that's in Washington. While we were doing all that, we were on the hunt for a replacement. And we landed on the best person we think we could ever find. You just mentioned “U.S. dealings.” What does that mean? Fedeli: Buy America was heating up in the States; the Inflation Reduction Act was introduced in the United States; and we were in the middle of attracting some battery manufacturers. We just felt we would focus on that, out of our own office [in Ontario], until we could turn our attention back to filling the space [in Washington]. You said you were retiring — what did Minister Fedeli tell you to change your mind? Paterson: He didn't need to tell me anything because I've seen what he does. He's too modest to boast about it. But Ontario is on a roll. We've seen massive investments in new battery plants. I was working with him directly and putting Ontario's first full battery electric EV plant in place in Ingersoll, Ontario; transforming our engine plants at General Motors to electric battery plants. These are big multi-billion dollar investments. I really can't think in my memory of when we've seen such a roll as what we've been on here. There was really very little to think about except to keep building the progress. And it's really mutual with the United States because we're all benefiting from this accelerated period of change. And the good thing for us is we're inside the fence with a great partner. Mr. Paterson, you’ve arrived in your new job less than a year out from the U.S. election. Do you have an early game plan for how you'll spend most of your time? Paterson: For sure. I mean, we'll leave the election to the American people and they'll make their decisions. But a lot of this is business-to-business, government-to-business and government-to-government. It's important to remember that Ontario is the number one customer for a huge array of states in the United States. Reaching out to all of them and consolidating those relationships — really important to succeed in growing trade. That's the great thing about trade is it's not a zero-sum game. I know you just started, but have you both discussed the timing of the end of your three-year term? The expiration date for this post is November 2026, which is the review year for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Paterson: But before you rush me out the door, I expect to be in this for three years. It’s a three-year appointment. But the renewal on the USMCA does fall in that timeframe, but that's not something you wait for. The work to actually complete the work that was done two years ago is still ongoing between governments. And I'll be working out of the Canadian embassy in Washington where we have the federal government, the trade officials. That will be an ongoing, really important file that serves as a background while we're all trying to create jobs for our people. | 
