Canada needs to do a better job of developing international trade in wake of NAFTA, says former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed.

"I'm disappointed with Canada as a country," said Lougheed during a recent speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade. "We haven't used the initiatives involved in that free trade agreement that can change us into even better traders of the world."

Lougheed, who helped develop the deal during his time in office, said he thought Canada would use NAFTA as "a launching pad" to become more effective as a world trader, but more than 80 per cent of Canada's trade is still with the U.S.

"For a trading nation, you shouldn't just be trading with one country," said Lougheed. "You should trade with a multitude of countries. If any place should be aware of that, it's right here in Vancouver."

Photo courtesy of VBoT
Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed says Canada should extend its NAFTA reach past trading with the United States.

He said B.C. understands trade with Asia better than any other segment of Canada and suggested the province is well positioned to further Asian trade, given its cultural ties and enthusiasm for entrepreneur-ism.

Canada is not a bad international trader, but it isn't a very good one, either, he contended.

"And we should be a lot better," said Lougheed.

When it comes to developing trade within Canada, Alberta and B.C. are the best positioned, he said. He praised the B.C. and Alberta governments for signing their agreement on investment, trade and increased labour mobility, which is designed to eliminate barriers to domestic commerce.

"I believe it's very positive for Canada and I hope it will create an atmosphere throughout our nation in which others will join in in the same way," he said.

Lougheed, who served as Alberta's premier between 1971 and '85, recalled the times when he and former B.C. counterpart Bill Bennett held joint Alberta-B.C. cabinet meetings in Edmonton and Victoria.

Praising current B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal government for helping to foster trade, he called for more provinces to follow B.C. and Alberta's example of co-operation.

"I think we are redefining the role of the West in Canada - and particularly here in B.C. and Alberta," said Lougheed. "But how do we work together in a country that has many challenges?" During his time in office, Lougheed became a staunch defender of Western Canadian economic interests as he stood up against then prime minister Pierre Trudeau's National Energy Program, which limited oil prices and is widely blamed for a severe downturn in the Alberta industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Eventually, Lougheed told the audience, Alberta and B.C. will be able to overcome Western alienation as the two provinces grow their populations and gain more seats in Parliament and more MPs give them greater political power.

However, he added, that probably won't occur in his lifetime.

But Lougheed suggested Alberta and B.C. will lead Canada's economy in the decade ahead, and the B.C. economy will remain strong in the post-Olympic era beyond 2010.

Canadian National chairman David McLean, who introduced Lougheed to the audience, did not share his old friend's views on Canada's international trade performance.

"I think that Canadians have become a lot better traders under NAFTA," said McLean in an interview. "We're a very good example. CN is a NAFTA railway. When we went public in 1995, about 15 or 20 per cent came out of the U.S., and today's it's 45 per cent. So we've become a pretty big NAFTA player.

"In fact, we're probably one of the biggest NAFTA players at all. Moving the goods across the Canada-U.S. border is a hell of a free-trade stretcher."

McLean added NAFTA has been a huge success, but compared to some large countries, Canadian traders are "still amateurs."

"Canadians, by and large, have a great reputation, so there's a great opportunity there for us to develop more trade, especially with China and India and some of the emerging nations," said McLean.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)