Mulroney wants Canada to pursue more trade

Canadians have matured into a much more confident people thanks to the free-trade deal with the United States and must now show the “courage” to expand trade throughout the world, says former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

“This is now a Canada that is confident and ambitious, not just in relationship to the United States but in relationship to the world,” Mulroney said in a speech Wednesday night at a tribute for him in Toronto.

He urged the country’s business community and government to work together to ensure that Canada — now a “distinctly minor player” in fast-growing emerging markets — picks up its trading game in countries such as China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Indonesia.

“We cannot sit back and wait for opportunity to knock at our door. We have to work for it, engaging a unique and coherent partnership between government and the private sector,” Mulroney said.

He acknowledged that while the “challenges” of expanding trade and investment are daunting, the opportunity to ensure the future prosperity of Canadian citizens is “enormous.”

“Of course there will be risks. There is no success in business or in government or in life that is entirely risk free.”

The address came on the anniversary of when Canadian and American negotiators reached a free-trade agreement on Oct. 3 1987, just minutes before a midnight deadline.

In the wide-ranging speech, Mulroney recounted how his government took the political risk of launching free-trade talks with the U.S. in the mid-1980s, how last-minute, highlevel negotiations sealed the deal, and what the agreement has meant to Canada since then.

“The policies that created this stance have influenced the character of Canadians themselves,” Mulroney said of the trade deal.

“Our citizens are now more habitually at ease with themselves as Canadians, demanding of themselves as Canadians, and outward looking as Canadians.”

“This is perhaps the most profound of all the material legacies of 25 years of practice since free trade and its suite of visionary policies brought so much practical change and prosperity to Canada.”

The speech by Mulroney comes at a critical time in Canadian trade policy. The Harper government is in the midst of free-trade negotiations with Europe, India and Pacific Rim nations.

Several hours before Mulroney’s speech, International Trade Minister Ed Fast also delivered an address in Toronto, in which he applauded the Canada-U.S. free-trade deal and promoted his own government’s plans to reach a similar agreement with the European Union.

“Twenty-five years ago, trade deniers claimed that trade with the United States would wipe out millions of jobs, compromise Canada’s sovereignty over our fresh water, and cause us to lose our Canadian culture,” said Fast.

“None of these claims came true. In fact, precisely the opposite happened.”