Mr. Speaker, the figures do not come from my department or from the Liberal Party of Canada. The figures come from Statistics Canada, which happens to be one of the best statistics gathering organizations recognized the world over.
Statistics Canada has two sets of numbers. For every $1 billion in traded merchandise we sustain or create some 11,000 jobs in Canada. For every $1 billion of investment in Canada we create or sustain 45,000 jobs over the course of a five year period.
That investment may take different forms. For instance, in the province of British Columbia 30% of its GDP is made up of trade with the Asian market. Trade and investment represent an important lifeblood for our national community. They are the flip side of the same coin. One creates the other.
Second, we also have to recognize that we are not just talking about incoming investment in the order of $180 billion to Canada and that when that comes in, not only does it create job opportunities, it also imports important R and D development in our country.
We are also talking about Canadians aggressively investing abroad, $170 billion. Not only does that create more competitive companies for our firms internationally, it also creates spin-off jobs at home as well as research and development.
When we went to Latin America and made investment, it also created jobs for firms of architects in B.C., firms of lawyers, firms of engineers. The investment is the complement to trade. The two go hand in hand and Canada, without trade and investment, will not be able to create the economic wealth that both he and I want for today's generation, particularly for young Canadians.