LAVAL, Que. - Stephen Harper says his marathon election campaign won't derail Canada's bid to join a massive global trade zone that he's predicting will be the fundamental trading network of the Asia-Pacific region.
The prime minister says Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, which failed to reach an agreement late last week, are still ongoing, and Canada remains at the table, notwithstanding the dissolution of Parliament.
New Zealand officials told The Canadian Press last week that the talks likely wouldn't wait until after the campaign -- a sentiment echoed in media reports today by John Key, Harper's New Zealand counterpart.
Speaking in Laval, Que., on the first full day of the 2015 election campaign, Harper says negotiators will continue to defend Canadian interests, notably the country's supply management system, which protects dairy producers.
Global trade is a cornerstone of the Conservative economic approach: Harper says Canada had just five trading partners when the Conservatives came to office in 2006, and now has concluded trade negotiations with some 44 countries.
Officials say last week's talks in Hawaii came close to reaching a deal, with Canada offering to allow more dairy imports, but the offers were far from what New Zealand and Australia were asking for.
