EU officials in Manitoba to discuss trade opportunities

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This article was published 15/04/2025 (199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s premier signalled his interest in developing a second deepwater port on the Hudson Bay after meeting with diplomats to discuss the expansion of trade.

Wab Kinew sat down with 19 representatives from the European Union at the legislature Tuesday to consider their mutual interests.

“We (told) 450 million people in the EU market that Manitoba is open for business,” Kinew told reporters after meeting with the delegation.

Government officials gave the group pamphlets that tout the possibilities linked to Manitoba’s northern port, Churchill, and the province’s “politically stable” nature.

The EU representatives arrived in Winnipeg on Monday to take part in a two-day official visit to Winnipeg as part of a “Team Europe mission” to the Prairies.

The delegation includes ambassadors and high commissioners from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The timing of the long-planned visit could not be better, Kinew said, noting U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies and the state of global trade.

The premier suggested any of the economic development ideas that Manitoba and Canada had prior to Trump returning to the White House need to be “100 times as big” to stimulate jobs.

“Whether it’s the Port of Churchill or another Hudson Bay port on the horizon, I do want Manitobans to start to think about ‘What’s the right balance here for us?’” he said, referencing the relationship between the natural environment and local economy.

The former Progressive Conservative government pledged $6.7 million in 2023 to study the feasibility of opening a deepwater port along the Nelson River.

A provincial spokesperson said Tuesday the study never went forward.

Asked about how the NDP would find the capital to follow through with a similar project, Kinew said there is potential for direct foreign investment. He noted the Liberals and Conservatives have indicated they are interested in nation-building projects if they form government in the April 28 election.

Members of the Team Europe mission were well-versed in the existing infrastructure in Churchill Tuesday.

Geneviève Tuts, EU’s ambassador to Canada, told the meeting that delegates want to “make good use” of the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement — a free-trade deal that Canada and the EU signed in 2016.

They are particularly interested in Manitoba’s clean energy and raw materials, Tuts said.

There is “enormous potential” to strengthen the friendship between the two parties, she said in her opening remarks.

Each visitor received a brochure titled, “Manitoba Has What Europe Needs.”

It advertises Manitoba as a bilingual province with 24 critical minerals, the world’s largest pea protein facility and aerospace manufacturing expertise.

“Manitoba is a politically stable, reliable ally with the equipment and expertise to design and build advanced components for both private applications and defence needs,” the pamphlet states.

Manitoba’s total trade with the EU amounted to roughly $2.2 billion last year — $467.2 million of which was exports.

The province primarily sold wheat, canola seed, medications, agricultural machinery and consumables, including seeds, fruit and spores.

Its main imports, valued at $1.7 billion, included agricultural machinery, gas turbines, tractors, trucks and transmission parts.

Following the hour-long meeting, the premier told reporters the “table setting” that Manitoba is doing right now will yield benefits for decades.

Many of the ambassadors indicated their home countries are interested in importing “energy products” in the summer, when the Port of Churchill is open, to prepare for winter, he said.

“If a company in Manitoba or anywhere in Canada, for that matter, can make green hydrogen… you’re going to have a huge market in the EU,” Kinew said.

The premier noted the group discussed “cultural diplomacy,” which could include hosting an EU film festival and sending local dance groups and artistic exhibits overseas.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca