Barack Obama said Saturday that one of his top campaign officials spoke with a Canadian consulate general representative about NAFTA, but nothing he said contradicted the candidate’s stand on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In a telephone interview with the Tribune Chronicle, Obama said, ‘‘I don’t know all the details but my understanding is that my chief economist, Mr. Goolsbee, was invited to speak to somebody in the local office of consulate general of Canada.’’
Austan Goolsbee is the top economic adviser for Obama’s presidential campaign.
‘‘If I’m not mistaken, they had a very cordial conversation and there was at no point any suggestion in any way that I wasn’t as serious as I can be about the need to make changes in NAFTA,’’ Obama said.
The controversy about NAFTA — which includes the United States, Mexico and Canada — surfaced Wednesday when the Canadian television network CTV reported that an Obama campaign representative told a Canadian official Obama’s plan to renegotiate NAFTA simply was campaign rhetoric. CTV said the meeting took place in the Canadian consulate general’s Chicago office.
The Canadian government and the Obama campaign quickly issued denials.
Nevertheless, the charges continued in Ohio, where voters will chose between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary. NAFTA is blamed for the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs and is a major issue.
In a prepared statement Saturday, Clinton said, ‘‘I think it’s somewhat disturbing that he would say one thing in Ohio and then have his campaign send a private signal to a foreign government which is presenting exactly the opposite of what he’s been saying in Ohio. This is part of a pattern and I think it’s a pattern that deserves closer examination.’’
Obama told the Tribune Chronicle that the NAFTA charges are ‘‘completely false. It’s been completely debunked.’’
‘‘People need to understand that my position on this has been consistent. I’ve been very clear about the need to amend NAFTA,’’ Obama said. ‘‘That is a contrast between myself and Sen. Clinton.’’
Both candidates are calling for changes in the trade agreement.
Obama said he wants to maintain free trade, but America’s policy ‘‘should be looking out for workers and not just profits. That’s something we haven’t had.’’
The economy is a major issue in the Ohio race, where Obama has almost eliminated Clinton’s earlier lead.
Obama, a senator from Illinois, said he is well aware of economic problems in the Mahoning Valley, and compared it to areas of his home state.
‘‘Chicago has done well in a diversified economy and downstate Illinois, much like big chunks of Ohio, has been hammered by manufacturing leaving. I very strongly believe we can’t allow the benefits of a global economy to go just to the top one percent,’’ he said.
To help the Valley recover, Obama outlined several of his policy proposals, including:
? Middle class tax cuts to help families offset rising costs;
? Investing $60 billion on the nation’s infrastructure to create jobs and make America competitive;
? Charging carbon polluters and using the funds to invest in green technology.
To help ensure those alternate energy jobs would come to places like Warren and Youngstown, Obama said he would have the federal government focus on states like Ohio and Michigan that have lost manufacturing jobs and try to encourage investment there.
Obama said, ‘‘Part my central premise in this campaign is the need to see the economy as one in which we are all linked together. And you can’t have all the winners on the coast and all the losers in the heartland. That’s not a recipe for long-term economic growth.’’
soravecz@tribune-chronicle.com
