Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki is speaking about the recent meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U. S. President Barack Obama and what it could mean for Canada.
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit with President Barack Obama signaled yet another step in ensuring job creation, economic competitiveness and prosperity for Canada," said Komarnicki. "Increasing the flow of goods and people with our largest trading partner means economic growth and more jobs at a time when Canada's economic recovery remains fragile. At the same time, given the world circumstances, it also makes good sense to focus on security."
The joint declaration will focus on four areas of cooperation, namely addressing threats early with integrated cross-border law enforcement, trade facilitation, economic growth and jobs and critical infrastructure. Harper and Obama will also establish a Beyond the Border Working Group to implement the declaration and provide annual reports.
Of particular interest to the business community is the creation of a Canada-US Regulatory Cooperation Council that will find ways to reduce and prevent regulatory barriers to cross-border trade, simpler rules for businesses and consumers that ultimately will make way for more jobs.
"This builds on the many steps taken by our Conservative Government to ensure that, despite the recession, Canada's economy leads in job creation and economic prosperity amongst the developed nations," said Komarnicki.
The government has created 460,000 new jobs and protected over 260,000 jobs through a job-sharing program, according to Komarnicki.
"We invested heavily in skills training and upgrading, frozen employment insurance costs and invested in over 23,000 projects across Canada under the Economic Action Plan and are now positioned to achieve a balanced budget," said Komarnicki.
The government has launched an ambitious trade agenda opening doors to Canadian businesses by concluding new free-trade agreements with Columbia, Peru, Jordan, Panama and the European Free Trade Association states, according to Komarnicki. At the same time, the government has also launched discussions on economic partnerships with two of the world's largest economies: the European Union and India.
"We cannot go back to the tax and spend Liberal ways. We must stay the course and continue with prudent government, low taxes and continued job creation," said Komarnicki.
