EARL DREESHEN, MP
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has reached an agreement-in-principle with the European Union. Once ratified, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement will be the biggest trade deal Canada has ever made.
Increased exports to the EU will boost Canada’s economy by $12 billion annually — equivalent to 80,000 new jobs. This is like adding one and a half times the total number of jobs currently found in Red Deer to the Canadian economy.
Today, one in five jobs in Canada is already linked to trade. Giving Canadian businesses free-market access to 500 million new customers is going to have profound, positive effects on Canada’s production capabilities, wages, and longterm prosperity.
CETA liberates European market access for nearly all primary and value-added sectors in every corner of Canada.
The elimination of European tariffs on Canadian metal, mineral, plastic and chemical products is significant. This includes the elimination of European tariffs on advanced manufactured goods including industrial machinery.
Canadian agricultural producers will finally be able to compete in the European market and their world-class products will surely be in high demand.
European tariffs are being eliminated on Canadian wheat, barley, rye, oats, and canola oil.
Canadian pork, beef and bison producers have secured preferential treatment with new tariff rate quotas and can expect a significant increase in exports.
This Canada-EU agreement is an historic accomplishment in our Conservative government’s mandate to create jobs and opportunities for all Canadians. It is part of our trade strategy to secure bilateral trade agreements that benefit Canadian production and exports. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada now has free-trade access to over half of the entire global marketplace.
Earl Dreeshen is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Red Deer and Member of the Standing Committee on Health and the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.