Courting China and Ignoring Regina?

This past week NDP Premier Greg Selinger has been traveling around the Asia-Pacific on a trade mission to places like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing. The NDP have said that this trip is about strengthening trade relationships with these regions.

There is nothing wrong with trying to increase the trading opportunities that Manitoba has and one hopes that the trip will be successful in doing just that. But the question has to be asked why the Premier decided to fly half way around the world to work on trading relationships when he is ignoring a trading block right next door.

Earlier this year the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan signed a trade agreement called the New West Partnership. It is a wide sweeping agreement that deals with combined research efforts in the three provinces, combined purchasing of goods and services for the provinces to ensure lower costs, joint international trade activities and a mechanism to reduce trade barriers between the provinces when it comes to labour and investment.

Manitobans who have long considered themselves to be the gateway to the west might be wondering how they got shutout of this New West Partnership. The fact is that the NDP have shown little interest in becoming a part of it.

These types of agreements are not limited to the three provinces to our west. Ontario and Quebec also have an economic agreement dealing with some of the very same issues the New West Partnership agreement addresses. And yet Manitoba is right in the middle, like an island, not part of either.

Being shutout of these agreements with our neighbors to the west and east means that we will miss out on opportunities to partner together on issues such as energy, technology and trade. The fact that the NDP have not taken the steps necessary to make Manitoba a part of these agreements will reduce the economic opportunities our province and its residents will have in the future.

So while Mr. Selinger is busy traveling around the Asia-Pacific region, I hope he will take the time to think about the fact that our province has become isolated from the most natural trading partners we have, our provincial neighbors. And while we can all hope that any potential deals that are struck in China are beneficial to Manitoba, he might also want to think about taking the drive to Regina and meeting with officials there to see how we too can become part of the New West Partnership and benefit from an economic agreement with those who are closest to us.