Against that fundamental fact, the only realistic course is to come to terms with it and in the process turn it to our advantage. Nobody pretends that the days of protected economies, insulated from the world by tariff and non-tariff barriers, can or should be brought back. Today's working realities are not about secure jobs for life. They demand willingness to adapt, learn, and retrain - and that should be viewed as a positive challenge. Make no mistake.
Globalization is good for Canada.
As the global economy becomes more closely integrated, there will be increased cross-border trade, marketing, investment, services and manufacturing. In the past decade, Canada has opened its markets and adjusted to accelerating change in the global economy, with the result that exports have more than doubled since 1992 alone. Exports have been the driving force behind Canada's economic growth and job creation in the 1990s, a performance strongly linked to business investment. What's more, almost half of the output of Canada's private sector is exported, with high value-added sectors doing particularly well. On the investment front, Canadian investment abroad is now almost at par with the considerable levels of foreign direct investment entering Canada.