Federal Members of Parliament Encouraged to Set Market Access as a Priority

The General Manager of Manitoba Pork is encouraging the just elected Canadian Members of Parliament to place a higher priority on international market access and ensuring Canada's trade agreements are upheld. An article that will be distributed through Manitoba community newspapers and posted to Manitoba Pork's web site looks at the importance Canada's free trade agreements.

Cam Dahl, the General Manager of Manitoba Pork, says as MPs return to Ottawa following the federal election and begin assessing priorities, the pork sector believes market access needs to be high on the agenda.

Clip-Cam Dahl-Manitoba Pork:

I've found in the last few years a real shift in the world approach to trade. Economic nationalism is back in style, protectionism is back in style. We see that in the U.S., we see that with other trading partners and, instead of looking for ways to enhance trade, we're seeing our partners look for ways to block trade.

When 90 percent of your product needs to leave the country, that is very worrisome indeed. These agreements are there to put stable market access in place but, with the world shifting to a more protectionist and me first approach to trade, there needs to be a shift.

Maybe we don't need to negotiate new agreements but let's take those resources, those people and those funds, that expertise that we had put into negotiating agreements and let's put that into ensuring that we get the access we expected. If we don't have reliable access to international markets, it becomes very difficult to see a future that has continued and growing investment.