Canada will open an export development office in Jakarta and has named an Indo-Pacific trade representative to help Canadian businesses enter new markets in the region, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday while in Indonesia.
“It’s really important for Canadian companies and exporters to grow in this region because when they do, that means good jobs back at home,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng told reporters in Jakarta.
That is where the new trade representative, Paul Thoppil, will be based, Ng said.
Trudeau arrived in Indonesia earlier Tuesday with a commitment to keep growing Canada’s relationship with the southeast Asian country.
One of his first events was an official visit with President Joko Widodo at his palace.
The two leaders spent their meeting discussing their growing ties, which Canada views as necessary to increasing its diplomatic and trade presence in the Indo-Pacific region. A trade representative was promised in the Indo-Pacific strategy the Liberal government released last November.
Trudeau, whose eldest son, Xavier, 15, joined him on the trip, announced there will be five coming trade missions to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.
He also put money on the table: $10 million over five years to help prevent future biological threats like another pandemic, and $13 million toward sexual and reproductive health projects in Indonesia.
A warming relationship
Canada is also lending Indonesia over $100 million to build green infrastructure for clean water and solar power.
“The warm welcome and constructive conversations we are having here in Indonesia are a testament to Canada’s strong friendships and growing relationship with the Indo-Pacific region,” Trudeau said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Together, we’re creating good jobs, protecting peace and security and forging a better future for people on both sides of the Pacific.”
But the relationship with Indonesia wasn’t always warm — countries in the region often viewed Canada’s presence as too episodic.
“Canada is investing extraordinary resources, people, time, money to build our presence in the region,” Ian McKay, Canada’s special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, said Tuesday in Jakarta.
“That is exactly what leaders like President Widodo want, and that is represented by the warm relationship he’s developed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,” said McKay, who is also Canada’s ambassador to Japan.
Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy
The leaders relationship was highlighted during Trudeau’s official visit to the Merdeka Palace.
He presented Widodo with a Team Canada Basketball jersey bearing his nickname, Jokowi, and the number seven — Widodo is the seventh president of Indonesia.
Days earlier, Team Canada played in Jakarta, where the men’s basketball team advanced to the Olympics after beating Spain.
Trudeau thanked Widodo for the warmth the team received, saying it’s a wonderful example of the two countries’ deepened relationship.
“It’s a normal thing to do to search out better and bigger markets,” McKay said, noting the Indo-Pacific strategy is Canada’s biggest foreign policy shift in decades.
Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy and a G20 member with significant potential for economic growth.
In 2022, Indonesia was Canada’s 19th-largest trading partner worldwide and third-largest among southeast Asian countries, with two-way merchandise trade totalling $6.24 billion.
On Wednesday, Trudeau will deliver remarks at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as the 10-nation bloc prepares to make Canada its latest strategic partner, symbolizing the trade progress Canada has made with ASEAN.
Merchandise trade with the countries in the bloc grew by nearly 29 per cent last year, with agribusiness being one of the largest economic sectors.
Trudeau is also expected to hold talks at the summit with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
