Protecting trade market a focus of government’s economic plan: Kinew
Manitoba has to be very careful about how it manages and protects is trade relationship with the United States, a key focus of the province’s economic growth strategy, Premier Wab Kinew told a business breakfast, hosted by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce May 28.
The US is Manitoba’s most important market for goods and service, Kinew noted. He said people must understand that regardless of who is in power in the US, protectionism always looms as a threat.
Trump will be protectionist, should he regain the President’s office, but those in the business of trade also say that the Biden administration engages in “polite protectionism” that is equally challenging, he told the crowd.
Manitoba’s approach is to go south of the border, meet with political representatives at the state level and to show them the numbers – the jobs and businesses in their states directly reliant on trade with Canada, the volume of goods that flow both ways.
Kinew, in a Q&A session with Chamber President Chuck Davidson, said the other thing that representatives on both sides of the Congress aisle agree upon is economic and defense security, which is increasingly tied to access to critical minerals and to a deep-sea port.
Manitoba has abundant reserves of critical minerals, and it has the Port of Churchill.
Kinew pledged to work to get Manitoba’s natural resources developed and to market, but noted that there are key “must haves” to pursue development of mines:
- improved licensing, engagement with First Nations and revenue sharing
- “contextual” deal-making to get the agreements to the finish line, including what specific benefits flow to First Nations – roads, access to the market through set-asides, procurement or joint venture opportunities.
“We’re going to do mining when mining is done right.”
