Western Premiers on Asian Trade Quest

(CBC News)

Three western premiers are leaving for Asia on Thursday, with an eye to promoting investment in their provinces from China and Japan and touting the region as Canada’s “economic powerhouse.”

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Alberta’s Ed Stelmach and British Columbia’s Gordon Campbell are making the trek as part of their recently signed New West Partnership agreement, which commits them to work together promoting trade and reducing trade barriers.

Wall said the three provinces may establish a trade office in China.

“There’s a cost issue, to be sure, if we were to do this,” said Wall. “There’s also a branding issue.

“Because it’s one thing for the Saskatchewan brand to be known in a market that big and that far away. It’s a little bit better to leverage the western Canadian brand or the Canadian brand, and so if we were to do something like that – that would be the rationale – yes, cost and also the branding issue of the ‘Canadian brand.’”

“The recent economic downturn has proven that we are stronger if we work together,” said Campbell. Read more here.