REGINA – Some important visitors in Regina this week for the new west partnership summit that will focus on transportation infrastructure.
Premier Brad Wall welcomed British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, along with the major players in the transportation sector for the event.
Over the next three days both the public and private sectors will discuss solutions and improvements for faster delivery of our exports, both across the country and internationally.
“Unless you sit around the table and spend the time talking and listening to what people in the private sector are saying, you won’t get excellence in public policy,” said Prentice when he addressed the room.
Premier Wall is especially interested in fulfilling his goal of tripling our exports to Asia.
“They want food security. They want energy security. They want what we have to offer in innovation. They want all the things that we have. We need to be about the business of getting them the things that we have in a reliable way, and in a timely way,” Wall said in his speech.
The new west partnership was created in 2010. In her speech, Clark reflected on what they’ve accomplished together in that time. She called the relationship fruitful, crediting the partnership for the west’s economic success.
“We represent $500 million in GDP. That’s what we represent as three provinces,” said Clark. “So, it is our chance in the west, the first time in a long time, where we can come together and we can say we have a chance to lead Canada. Because Canada needs us more than they ever have before.”
The official meetings begin Thursday morning at 9 a.m. A moderator has been appointed to get through some potentially tough conversations about building stronger transportation systems.
“We will create the conditions, and you will create the wealth,” said Clark to the private sector representatives in the room.
Comments