American Vice-President Mike Pence says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a tough negotiator during the trilateral trade negotiations.

”I want to assure the people of Canada that your prime minister drove a hard bargain, as did our president,” said Pence before a closed-door meeting with Trudeau in his Parliament Hill office.

(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Legislation to ratify the new NAFTA was tabled Wednesday in the Commons but MPs are running out of time before the parliamentary session end and the election campaign begins.

South of the border, debate continues in Congress over the final deal.

Pence hopes it’ll be approved in July.

The day-long talks in Ottawa between Pence and Trudeau will also focus on the crisis in Venezuela, the two Canadians held in China and the backsliding of abortion rights in some U.S. states.