Mayors’ Free Trade Voices More Important Than Ever
It’s been a global few months for Edmonton. I’ve had the opportunity to travel and talk about the Edmonton Declaration and what we are doing as a city to mitigate the effects of climate change. I’m grateful for the support we’ve received from municipalities along the way including Boston, Washington, Miami, Honolulu and Pittsburgh. Cities across North America are signing on and committing to the key role of scientific research and data in building ambitious climate action plans. We find a lot of common ground here, and on many other issues. So these conversations served as an incongruous backdrop for the escalating ‘trade war’ between the United States and Canadian governments.
As Chair of Canada’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus, I can unequivocally say that Canada’s cities fully support Prime Minister Trudeau and the federal government on this matter. Cities on both sides of the Canada-US border benefit from free and fair trade. These restrictions affect real people and real businesses in our cities, including Edmonton. I committed to ensuring our US partners understand the benefits of mutual trade and, during my travels, I was encouraged to hear the same from American mayors. The North American Free Trade zone is the world’s biggest economic region, encompassing a US$21-trillion regional market of 480 million consumers. And together, Canada, the US, and Mexico now account for more than a quarter of the world’s GDP.
Rather than sit back and deal with the consequences, mayors have taken action in building partnerships and leading conversations about building tomorrow’s liveable, competitive cities — to support talent, investment and growth. We’ve benefitted from our countries having close relationships, integrated economies and a long history of free and fair trade. I represented Canada’s mayors at the US Conference of Mayors annual meeting last week, and mayors from across the United States went out of their way to shake my hand and express their regret for the state of our current country-to-country relationship.
I’ve often said that city-building is nation-building – and prosperous cities make for prosperous nations. Amidst polarizing leadership that threatens to unbalance the 150-year-old peaceful and amicable relationship across the 49th parallel, mayors stand united — injecting common sense objectivity and reality into an otherwise unprecedented and irrational exchange. This came through during a tri-national panel discussion at the US mayors meeting where I joined my Tijuana and San Diego counterparts. From this discussion, we’ve started to explore ways that we can work together in the coming weeks and months to advocate with one voice, using our respective national networks of influence to reinforce a common sense perspective.
This sense of cohesion around trade is also growing closer to home. I’m happy to report that, after decades of infighting, regional economic cooperation forges ahead. Edmonton Global will focus on unified foreign direct investment and export market development — ensuring we won’t be divided or work against each other in a volatile global trade environment.
Regardless of the US President’s comments, the American mayors I met with hold a strong bipartisan commitment to open trade and NAFTA. They understand how important the Canada-US-Mexico relationship is to jobs and investment in all of our cities. City leadership has never been more important and necessary — and I am honoured to lead the Canadian voice.