Chicago, Illinois
April 25, 2014
Check against delivery
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me to join you. I am delighted to be here to mark the 20th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA.
This anniversary represents an important milestone. It showcases our ability to work together to eliminate barriers to trade and facilitate cross-border movements of goods and services.
By any measure, NAFTA has been a success, serving as a strong basis to grow both trilateral and bilateral North American relationships. These relationships are crucial to our collective future.
As Minister of Transport and as a former president and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, I value this chance to meet with you and to discuss how together we can increase trade, both on this continent and with markets around the globe.
Government of Canada's Economic Record
The Government of Canada is committed to building safe, secure, environmentally responsible and efficient transportation networks that support global trade and economic growth.
We have an impressive track record to back that up.
Our record of fiscal prudence and sound economic management has drawn international recognition. The OECD, the IMF and Bloomberg have ranked Canada one of the best countries in the world to do business.
NAFTA
Our continental trading relationships play a big part in that success.
Before NAFTA, trade within the North American region was valued at 288 billion dollars (US). In 2011, our trilateral merchandise trade had more than tripled – surpassing 1 trillion dollars (US).
In 2012, two-way trade in goods and services between Canada and the U.S. exceeded 742 billion dollars (US) – about two billion dollars (US) per day.
Canada-Mexico commercial relations have also grown under NAFTA. Mexico is Canada’s third-largest trading partner, and between 1993 and 2012, bilateral merchandise trade grew by almost seven times.
Also in 2012, Mexico ranked as Canada’s fifth most important merchandise export destination. And since NAFTA, direct Canadian investment in that country has gone from over 540 million dollars in 1993 to almost five billion dollars in 2012.
Other trade agreements
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are furthering their trilateral relationship on the international stage and with Asian partners through the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the Trade in Services Agreement being negotiated in Geneva.
And we are individually negotiating bilateral and regional deals with non-NAFTA partners.
Indeed, Canada is pursuing an aggressive bilateral trade agenda. We have concluded free trade agreements with ten countries and are negotiating with about 30 more.
Late last year, our government announced an historic agreement-in-principle with the 28-nation European Union, providing access for Canada to a market of more than 500 million consumers.
And, last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced an important trade agreement with Korea.
The role of transportation in this market framework
To realize the potential of our trade agenda, the Government of Canada has moved toward marketplace-based transportation frameworks to promote competition and efficiency.
And they're working.
Thanks to the divestiture of key ports and the privatization of railways and air carriers, the productivity of Canada's transportation sector grew by more than 31 percent from 1986 to 2008.
This growth was made possible thanks to the hard work by Canadian ports, terminals, railroads, other transportation providers and government agencies.
We are continuously improving supply chain efficiency, reliability, and security to stay competitive in the continuously evolving world of global commerce.
Infrastructure investments
Equally important, our government has invested strategically in Canada's transportation infrastructure and has adopted a "gateway" approach to transportation and trade.
In 2006, we launched the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative. This initiative supports strategic transportation infrastructure on our west coast, including principal road and intermodal connections, key border crossings and major Canadian ports.
To date, we have invested 1.4 billion dollars in Asia-Pacific Gateway projects, in partnership with all four western provinces, municipalities and the private sector.
This has culminated in an overall investment of more than 3.5 billion dollars.
We believe firmly in leveraging private sector funding to make taxpayer investments go further.
As well, since 2007, we have announced 39 strategic infrastructure investments in nine provinces under the 2.1 billion-dollar Gateways and Border Crossings Fund.
This includes investments in the Atlantic Gateway and Trade Corridor, a fully integrated multimodal transportation system.
It offers deep water ports, efficient and reliable road and rail networks with access to U.S. markets, and airports with air cargo access to and from international markets.
Other investments have benefited the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway – a major economic asset to Canada and the United States and to the competitiveness of shippers and ship-owners alike.
The Seaway supports more than 200,000 jobs in both countries as well as 35 billion dollars in business revenue.
Between 2009 and 2013, traffic volumes on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway rose by almost 30 per cent.
They actually exceeded pre-recession levels in the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway.
Our recently announced New Building Canada Plan takes our government's unprecedented investments in infrastructure to the next level.
Key transportation assets will be eligible for funding under the 4 billion-dollar National Infrastructure Component of the Plan, which is earmarked for projects of national significance.
This recognizes that, in today's highly competitive environment, we need constant improvements in transport capacity, We also want to encourage private sector partnerships and investments in transportation and infrastructure to stay competitive.
Detroit River International Crossing
Canada plans to move forward together with the United States on other key infrastructure investments such as the Detroit River International Crossing, now known as the New International Trade Crossing.
The Windsor-Detroit corridor is the busiest commercial land border crossing in North America, handling almost 30 per cent of cross-border surface trade between Canada and the U.S.
The vast majority of this bilateral trade moves across a four-lane, 85-year-old bridge.
The government of Canada is concerned about the vulnerability of that trade and the jobs it sustains in both our counties.
To ensure that there is no disruption of this critical trade, the Government of Canada has pledged to pay for almost all the construction of a new crossing. The bridge alone will cost some 1 billion dollars.
Canada, in partnership with Michigan, is working hard to get the project ready for construction.
President Obama issued a presidential permit for the bridge in 2013, and all that is missing now is the U.S. government’s commitment to build a new customs plaza in Detroit.
Canada continues to await a decision by the U.S. government to pay for this new facility.
It requires a relatively modest investment – some 250 million dollars out of the 4 billion dollar overall cost for the project.
But this final hurdle is holding up this a vitally important project.
Canada and the United States have a long history of cooperation and partnership on areas of mutual interest. As partners, we know that we can resolve the few challenges that exist to make this project a reality.
Harbor Maintenance Tax
The United States' and Canada's ability to move products across our borders safely and efficiently gives our integrated economy a major competitive edge.
This is something we are actively working on to advance the Beyond the Border Action Plan.
Canada supports an open, transparent, market-based approach to our most important bilateral trade relationship.
We should not be undermining our shared competitiveness and integrated supply chains by delaying important projects such as the Detroit-Windsor crossing or imposing new border fees on containers being shipped through Canada or Mexico to the United States.
Canada competes on a fair playing field. Our ports are independent, self-governing and self-financing.
The imposition of any new tax would have a negative effect on trade, growth and jobs – an impact that could be felt throughout North America, and that would be in nobody's best interest.
Rail safety
In addition to the tremendous contribution that transportation can make to enhancing North American trade, it also carries tremendous responsibility.
I have spent much of this week addressing just that.
Many of you have likely heard about the tragic train derailment and explosion last summer in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which claimed 47 lives.
This incident prompted an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and two days ago, the Government of Canada responded to the initial recommendations that came from that investigation.
We announced three main actions regarding the transportation of dangerous goods by rail.
First, we are immediately removing the least crash-resistant tank cars from service to transport dangerous goods and are improving the tank cars used to transport crude oil and ethanol. We will require that all DOT-111 tank cars built before the January 2014 standard that are used to transport crude oil and ethanol to be phased out or refitted within three years.
Second, to ensure we are better prepared in the event of a rail accident, the Government of Canada will require rail shippers to develop emergency response plans for higher risk flammable liquids.
In the event of an accident involving significant quantities of these dangerous goods, these plans will give first responders access, in a timely manner, to the resources and assistance they need.
Finally, we are introducing even stricter requirements for trains transporting dangerous goods in order to safeguard communities along our railway lines.
And we are requiring railway companies to immediately slow trains transporting dangerous goods and implement other key operating practices.
The future of North American trade and transportation
Looking ahead, transportation will continue to play a key role in free trade on this continent.
NAFTA has proven to be a solid foundation for building our future prosperity and has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on our economies.
It has opened up new export opportunities, acted as a stimulus to build internationally competitive businesses, and helped attract significant foreign investment.
Cooperation through NAFTA has created a North America where Canadian, American and Mexican companies do more than make and sell things to each other.
Rather, our companies increasingly make things together.
Over half of Canadian manufacturing exports to the U.S. are intermediate exports.
This cooperation of our nations was highlighted this past February when Prime Minister Harper joined Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto at the North American Leaders Summit in Toluca, Mexico.
The leaders noted that our engagement as a region with the rest of the world has a direct impact on the competitiveness of our economies and the prosperity of our societies.
They agreed to continue to work closely on matters related to international trade in order to strengthen our integrated supply chains.
And they agreed to jointly promote trade and investment in those sectors in which the integration of our production chains serves as a global advantage.
In addition, the leaders committed to develop a North American transportation plan.
This will start with a regional freight plan and build upon initiatives between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
We also plan to streamline procedures and harmonize customs data requirements for traders and visitors in order to establish a trusted traveller program throughout North America.
And our governments will leverage the existing bilateral border mechanisms to enhance the secure movement of goods across all of North America and promote exchanges on logistics and regional development.
Conclusion
We are taking this action, in transportation and many other fields, because there are many new areas of opportunity to pursue that involve exchanges between our nations.
Such opportunities could strengthen our future workforces.
They could promote common strategies to address issues such as energy, infrastructure, trade, and resource development.
And they could continue our collaboration – as increasingly integrated neighbours – to counter global threats such as terrorism and protect our shared critical infrastructure.
At the end of the day, we share common objectives: increased trade, economic growth and job creation.
But we also have the responsibility to ensure that the communities and families in our countries remain in a continent that is safe, secure and sustainable.
NAFTA has contributed greatly, and will continue to contribute, to these goals.
The collaboration that it supports makes North America the most competitive and dynamic region in the world.
I look forward to working with partners, such as all of you here, to pursue this future.
Thank you.
