The move by the organization is a symbolic gesture that recognizes Canada’s expanded presence in the region and reflects the progress being made on a Canada-ASEAN free-trade agreement.
The partnership will be ratified when Trudeau is in Jakarta on Tuesday and Wednesday alongside Trade Minister Mary Ng.
Trudeau left Ottawa Sunday evening with his son Xavier.
During his visit, he will meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss fighting climate change, food security and advancing economic ties – part of which includes energy production and trade.
The launch of the ASEAN-Canada strategic partnership will take place on Wednesday, with Trudeau also expected to deliver remarks.
“The ASEAN believes engagement with Canada is much deeper than it perhaps used to be,” Wayne Farmer, president of the Canada-ASEAN Business Council, said in an interview from Jakarta, Indonesia.
“We trading more, we’re engaging more, and it’s a good thing to see for us. It’s another little incremental step in the right direction.”
The ASEAN bloc, consisting of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, has been strengthening its ties to Canada for years.
Despite not being a strategic partner up until this visit, the bloc began negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada in 2021. Farmer, who is involved in those discussions, said talks are progressing well.
Another round of negotiations is expected later this month, with parties agreeing to finalize a deal by 2025.
Farmer said it’s unusual to see Canada granted this trading opportunity because others such as the United States and European Union _ already strategic partners with ASEAN _ have been lobbying for their own trade negotiations with the bloc.
“We certainly did pull off a coup in being selected,” said Farmer.
The Indo-Pacific is Canada’s second-largest merchandise export market after the United States, with annual two-way trade valued at $270 billion last year.
But Gaphel Kongtsa, director of international policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said a top priority for local businesses is reducing trade barriers within the region.
Canada’s merchandise trade with ASEAN grew by nearly 29 per cent in 2022, with agribusiness being one of the largest economic sectors.
“There’s a real need for Canadian talent and the goods it can supply for the region,” said Kongtsa.
The need has grown following economic disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which also amplified calls in the Indo-Pacific for an accelerated energy transition.
“These regions are running significant coal as their source of power, and to me the best thing Canada can do to help bring down global emissions is to get countries that are on coal to transition into these other forms of energy,” said Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada.
ASEAN sees Canada and its companies as allies in providing the technology, services and products it needs to address food insecurity, green energy transition and building smart cities, Farmer said.
“There’s a balance out here, particularly with developing nations, of continuing to grow their economy, lift their people into the middle class and into economic prosperity with an energy transition to mitigate environmental impacts,” Farmer said.
Government officials say it’s an overarching theme Trudeau will address when in Jakarta: driving climate action while building economic growth.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
