Promoting Canada abroad

I see that there is a story doing the rounds again about MP travel.

As a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade, one of the criticisms I’ve heard leveled at MPs by trade representatives and government officials from other countries is that Canadian government officials don’t travel enough.

In fact, in many countries, it’s understood that making the effort to visit and meet with other government officials indicates your country is interested in doing business with their country.

Taking the time to travel to other countries then is an important step in establishing working partnerships between countries.

A good example of this kind of back and forth is the positive experience we just had with Taiwan trade representative Dr. David Ta Wei Lee. As a result of his visit to the Okanagan, our high tech, wine and tourism sectors stand to benefit. Plainly stated, it means more potential business for the Okanagan resulting in more jobs and money spent in the local economy.

It’s true on a national scale as well.

Canada is an exporting nation and robust trade has always been vital to the health of our industries and our economic sustainability.

Based on this, our government has made it a major priority to bring new life to our trade agenda which had virtually come to a standstill under previous governments. In less than four years, we have opened doors to Canadian business by concluding new free trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, Jordan, Panama and the European Free Trade Association states.

At the same time, our government has also launched discussions on economic partnerships with two of the world's largest economies: the European Union and India.

On the cultural front, Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore announced this week that Canada and India are launching negotiations that will ultimately allow Canadian and Indian film and television producers to pool creative, technical and financial resources to co-produce film and television projects. It’s an initiative that our growing Okanagan film industry will appreciate.

The truth is none of this happens unless we are willing to leave our own borders and go abroad to promote Canada and our regions and show the world what we have to offer. It pays huge dividends for Canadian businesses and communities like our own.

Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation

Every day it is an honour to serve you as the MP for Kelowna-Lake Country. This week I had a the special privilege of attending a very moving ceremony, on behalf of the Minister of Veterans Affairs, which awarded 8 special Canadians with the Minister of Veterans Affair Commendation.

This award, established in 2001 by the Governor General, is bestowed to individuals who have performed commendable service to the Veteran community and/or individuals who represent commendable role models for their fellow Veterans.

Past Commendation recipients from the Okanagan include Bishop Fraser Berry, Reverend Dick Fletcher, Robert Maxwell, Harry Quarton and Bill Tanner.

This year, Kelowna's own Mary Cardiff is one of the recipients. Mary has tirelessly served our community for many years. She is a 60 year member of the Royal Canadian Legion's Ladies Auxiliary and a 26 year member of the Royal Canadian Legion. For twenty-five years, Mary has organized Remembrance Day ceremonies for retirement and home care facilities throughout the Kelowna area. At 80-years-old, Mary is still going strong and continues to ensure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to commemorate our Veterans. She is well-deserving of the Minister’s Commendation Award. Congratulations and Thank You Mary!

As always, if you have any questions or comments on this or any other federally-related matter, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or at 470-5075.

Ron Cannan is the MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.