Canada can save the TPP

Threats to rip up NAFTA and trash the TPP send a chill down the spines of Canadians whose livelihoods depend on trade. And while the Trump administration’s entire trade plan is not yet clear, it is crystal clear that Canada’s future, like its past, depends on trade.

Nowhere is this more evident than in our agriculture and agri-food sector. Just as there weren’t enough Canadians to buy beaver felt hats, there’s no way we could eat what Canadian farmers produce. Fully 90 per cent of our farmers depend on exports and more than half of everything we produce goes beyond our borders.

Competitive access to global markets is not a choice, it is a requirement.

Canadian agriculture produces what the world needs. But we can’t thrive if trade barriers prevent us from being competitive with others who have been better at reaching trade agreements, such as Australia, which already has agreements with Japan and China.

Canada needs to eliminate tariff and non-tariff participate, if that doesn’t happen, why not take the fruit from seven years of negotiations and make it work for the other 11 countries?

We’ve already seen how this can happen with Europe. We can take some of the lessons learned and apply them to the TPP. Japan has already passed it in its lower house. Canada needs to follow suit.

Beyond TPP members, The Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia have all have expressed an interest in joining. More members mean more opportunity in a region with significant growth potential.

It’s not just farmers and food processors who benefit. Communities in urban and rural areas do better when we have better access to foreign markets.

It’s abundantly clear that, in the 21st century, Canada will need to achieve greater access to the Asia Pacific region to ensure our trade engine keeps firing. Taking the lead in discussions on how to implement TPP, even without the U.S., and harvest prosperity from seven years of negotiation, is a prudent path.