Prince George, B.C.- There was no official announcement, but Federal Minister of the Asia Pacific Gateway and President of the Treasury Board, Stockwell Day delivered a rah-rah  speech for the  work of his government to  bring Canada through the world economic crisis to a special  Chamber of Commerce luncheon  in Prince George.

 

The speech  started on a light hearted note as he joked about Chamber President Roy Spooner’s mispronunciation of the Okanagan-Coquihalla riding, “That’s O.K., when former Prime Minister Jean Chretien introduced me once he referred to me as being the M.P from Okinawa-Coca Cola.”

 

Day reiterated the announcement he made at Canfor Pulp earlier today, where the Government provided $15.6 million dollars to two projects that will reduce odour and generate green energy.

 

“Other people are talking about us” says Day who pointed to comments by the International Monetary Fund saying Canada’s in the best position coming out of the recession, the London Telegraph talked about the outstanding way in which Canada has handled the economic downturn and  the World Economic Forum says Canada has the most stable banking system in the world. “The reasons we’ve had these things said about us is because we put in place plans and  policies in place which we believed would have results, and guess what, they produced results.”

 

Day says this is the kind of information investors outside of Canada are looking for as they look for places to safely invest their dollars.

 

Day says Canada’s debt level is low, compared to other nations. The debt load in Canada is about 30% and Day says that is minimal compared to Japan where the debt is 200%.

 

He says the measurements send positive signals to companies looking for places to build their business and invest their dollars.

 

He says while the U.S. is starting to see a turn around, there is still some uncertainty, “But when they see or hear about a place called Canada where the debt is low, the deficit is low and there are laws in place, that is why we are leading the economic recovery.”

 

Day admits, the confidence here pushes up the dollar, and that is difficult for exports, “We take some steps to make sure your costs are as low as possible when you manufacture. Too many governments for too long thought they could tell business you must export to this country, you must make this product.”

 

In the past eight months, manufacturing exports have increased says Day, he adds that the Asia Pacific Gateway is sending the message that Canada is a shipping destination that will save manufacturers time and money.

 

“2010 has been a great year for Canada, the Globe and Mail said ‘2010 the Year Canada Grew Up’ they were making a statement. There was the Olympics, where we took the stand we were going to own podium. And while some said that was too aggressive we did something that no other host country has done, we won more medals than any host country has ever won.” 

 

He says other events which have focused on Canadian achievements include the 100^th anniversary of the Navy which gave Canada acknowledgement for always being there, the G-8 and G-20, where Canada was able to get all the other nations in attendance to agree to reducing their deficits by half by 2013.

 

“I feel pretty good about the leadership role Canada is taking on the world stage.”

 

Day says if there one bit of advice he can pass along to local governments it is to do everything it can to keep taxes down "There is  incredible competition  for international business, keep the taxes as low as you can."