“I would say to our leaders, we need to start thinking globally and acting locally”
ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE
IMPROVED TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS COULD HELP BOOST CANADA’S ENERGY EXPORTS
by James Snell and Deborah Jaremko
C anada’s prairie provinces have signed an agreement that could benefit energy trade with other countries. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba entered a memorandum of understanding in April to improve western Canada’s interconnected road, rail, air, energy, and port corridors. The long-term goals include expanding the West’s export-based economy, strengthening the region’s global market participation, and building relationships with international trading partners – several of which are calling on Canada to speed up liquefied natural gas (LNG) develop - ment. “The perception of Canada’s trade infrastruc- ture by customers abroad has plummeted,” said Carlo Dade, director of the Trade and Investment Centre at the Canada West Foundation, which worked closely with the provinces to support their efforts. Internationally, Canada dropped from a top 10 supplier a decade ago to ranking number 32nd in the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global
Competitiveness Report, he noted. “The decline in our global trade infrastructure stems from our inability to manage development of trade infrastructure. Our unwillingness to move LNG is added on top of this to give Canada two black eyes,” said Dade. Goods and services trade accounted for around 65 percent of Canada’s GDP in 2020, according to the Government of Canada. Good reason to improve transportation corridors for even greater efficiency said Dade. “Trade pays for health care, education, and keeping the lights on,” he said.
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VOL 23 ISSUE 2 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 23 ISSUE 2
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