On overseas trips, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day is up at 4 a.m. so he can squeeze in a 10-kilometre run — puffing security guards in tow — before beginning the day's meetings.
On Parliament Hill, Day recently sent out a memo to MPs from all parties seeking to organize a weekly fun run to encourage fitness and some non-partisan camaraderie.
Day, 58, and a grandfather, is in the best physical shape of his life and, according to politicians on both sides of the Speaker's chair, he just might be in the best political shape of his life.
It's been a remarkable political turnaround for Day. In 2001, after little more than a year after he had been elected as leader of the Canadian Alliance, Day had lost a general election, been mercilessly mocked by his political opponents and had watched as several caucus colleagues openly rebelled against him, even leaving the party to sit as their own group in the House of Commons. . . .
….Peter Julian, the NDP's trade critic, says that whether it's Day or his predecessor David Emerson, the government is not doing enough to protect Canadian jobs — be they in the steel business or shipbuilding — when it negotiates trade deals. Julian points to December's trade deficit — the first in more than 30 years — as proof that all the world wants is access to Canada's wood, rocks and oil and that free trade agreements have yet to provide enough value-added jobs to protect the economy from swings in commodity prices.
“The emphasis on commodity exports and the reduction of value-added exports has helped contribute to a significant trade deficit overall,” Julian said.
“The reliance on 'free' trade agreements is clearly not working.”
Scott Brison, the Liberal trade critic, says the Harper government has for too long neglected or even hurt relationships with China and India, two economies that, despite a global recession, will continue to show strong growth this year.
“Harper's trade and economic policies have left Canada vulnerable,” Brison said. [Read the rest of the story]
The Liberals, today, put out a couple of news release criticizing the Tory record on trade. One, from Brison, accused the government of failing on the softwood lumber file. The other, from foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, accused the government of neglecting and even hurting Chinese-Canadian relations:
Last week, Mr. Harper’s former Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson publicly called for Canada to “be more deeply engaged with China” and confirmed there are deep divisions within the Conservative government regarding how to deal with Beijing.
Canada is not only losing ground to the United States, but is far behind countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Germany and Australia when it comes to its share of the Chinese import market.