2009-02-05 - Canada-U.S. Relations
Mr. Blaine Calkins (Wetaskiwin, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his excellent speech given in this House. We are both from Alberta and we both know the value that our province and country places on having international trading markets.
I feel it is a little rich for the member for Kings—Hants to get up and start criticizing all of the great things we have actually done, given the fact that his party, under former leader Jean Chrétien, had a notorious staff member bashing America and a former colleague, Carolyn Parrish, who would step on effigies of former U.S. presidents. To hear Liberals actually criticizing us for our relationship with the United States is a little rich.
I would like to ask my hon. colleague, considering the value we place on these trading arrangements, what has our province done insofar as having a representative in Washington to represent the interests of not only Canadians but Albertans?
Mr. Chris Warkentin:
Mr. Speaker, the hon. colleague of mine for Wetaskiwin does draw my attention to the fact that we as the province of Alberta do have a trade secretary in Washington making ongoing efforts in terms of building that relationship.
I heard some heckling from the other side with regards to the change in the administration. We recognize there has been a change, but we will not put Canadian trade at risk based on who is in the White House. We will not shut it down for four years and then try to re-establish it because of the damage that was done by the previous Liberal government in terms of our relationship with the past administration. It is something we are still working to clean up today under this new president.