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00:00That's clearly possible. The fact the decision has not been rendered for so long even after all the objective analysis he said that the project is better from a economic standpoint and energy standpoint than even an environmental standpoint is certainly preferable to rail. Even after all those things a decision hasn't been rendered. Look I think the politics and after by the way the American people have been clear on both sides of the political divide that they support the project. I think there's very peculiar politics of this particular administration. I believe that whether this project goes ahead or not on this administration it will ultimately go ahead under a subsequent administration. Are you planning to call the president to ask about this. The president and I have spoken about this matter quite regularly I've raised I've raised the issue. He knows my my viewpoint and I know his thinking on the matter as well recently. Are you Are you anticipating . We've we've talked about this recently. Are you anticipating a rejection during the. I'm not I'm not going to speculate right now but as they say the fact is notwithstanding the facts positive the decision has not been rendered for a very long time and that's obviously not a hopeful sign. Do you think it would be appropriate to to reject something like this such an important project for Canada in the middle of an election campaign. I'm I'm not going to speculate on that timing and those those kinds of matters. Look I think we have to accept something . You know we we we always get upset when Americans are perceived to be meddling in our affairs. This is ultimately an American decision. I've been very clear about what I think is in the best interest not just the candidate but in the best interests in North America. And as I say I think the studies of the US government itself confirm everything the government of Canada has been saying and everything the American people have been saying to the administration but the administration ultimately has the right to make their own decision. Trade agreements have also been a big component of your administration. We're in the middle of negotiations as we speak right now. Why for the Trans-Pacific Partnership How is that going. Are we should we be expecting a deal any time soon. Well I think I look I'm not going to speculate on when it will be concluded. I can tell you the discussions are well advanced. Our objective as a government is to be sure this country is part of an ambitious Asia Pacific International Trade Network. Obviously we're going to fight for all the various interests of our industries including supply management these industries have different interests and we try and support them all but we want to make sure we're part of that. One of the things this Government has done one of the things I'm most proud of is the way we have transformed the global trade network that this country has access to. When we came to office trade agreements with only five countries in the world concluded largely by the previous Conservative government a generation ago we now have trade agreements concluded I think it's with 44 countries at last count all of Europe a big chunk of the Americas through South Korea we have our first toehold in the Asia-Pacific region a couple of other agreements in the Middle East. So this is a big transformation a big opportunity for the Canadian economy. But given that we are a trading nation and given the global economy is the way of the future we cannot be left out of this kind of trade arrangement. Should dairy farmers be concerned the government is at the table making sure it protects the interests as best we can of every Canadian industry. We have made commitments to sustain our supply management system and we are working to achieve that. A lot of analysts have puzzled over the phenomenon of how the low loonie hasn't really given helped exporters and manufacturers. There seems to be a disconnect there. Is that something that you. Well look it's it's maybe slower than people would have hoped. But these things don't happen overnight. I mean the Bank of Canada will tell you that the lag times on dollar and monetary policy changes are still significant they're not instantaneous. All I can tell you is this we've worked strongly with our exporters with the Canadian Association of exporters and manufacturers to do the things that they believe we need to do to keep them competitive in terms of investments and innovation and and certain tax measures and they're very confident that that that industry has made a long term transition. So you know we're seeing some growth there and I'm confident we'll see more as we go forward .

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Canada's Harper: Keystone Shows Obama's Peculiar Politics

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks about the Keystone pipeline and trade with Bloomberg's Theo Argitis at the prime minister's office in Ottawa, Canada. (Source: Bloomberg)