Ed Fast is asking Abbotsford’s business people to be advocates for trade.
Fast, the International Trade Minister and MP for Abbotsford, stressed the importance of trade to the Canadian economy, during a speech to the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday afternoon.
“One in every five jobs in Canada is related to trade. That’s how critical trade is to our long-term prosperity.”
He said Canada has fared well during the tough economic times compared to the rest of the world.
He stressed that businesses should take advantage of the opportunities around the globe.
Fast called trade agreements “win-win” scenarios and used the Canada/U.S. free trade agreement as an example.
“You may recall back then we had opponents. They were fierce, they were shrill, they alleged Canada was going to hollow out its economy, Canada was going to lose millions of jobs.”
He said in reality the country gained hundreds of thousands of jobs and trade with the U.S. tripled, while trade with Mexico quadrupled.
“I hope I can count on you to be the messengers out there, correcting the falsehoods that are being circulated about trade.”