Hon Members, please we would move on to the third Statement. We have taken a lot of time on these two Statements.
We have the third Statement in the name of Rev John Ntim Fordjour, the Hon Member of Parliament for Assin South Constituency.
This Statement is in comme- moration of the 152nd Canadian Independence and lessons from her economic progression.
Hon Member, you may do so now.
Commemoration of the 152nd Canadian Independence and Lessons from Her Economic
Progression
Rev John Ntim Fordjour (NPP -- Assin South): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity afforded me to make this Statement in commemoration of the 152nd Canadian Independence and lessons from her economic success.
Mr Speaker, permit me to foremost convey my best wishes and congratulatory message to the people of Canada for attaining 152 years of its founding.
Mr Speaker, Canada, just like Ghana, has a history of colonial dominance. Colonised by the French at the beginning of the 1600s, Canada was conquered by England during the Seven Years' War (1756-63). The Treaty of Paris, which was signed after the war, gave England control until the British North America Act of 1867 provided for the unification of the Canadian provinces and served as the country's first constitution.
On July 1, 1867, with the passage of the British North America Act, the Dominion of Canada was officially established as a self-governing jurisdiction within the British Empire. Two years later, Canada acquired the vast possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company, and within a decade the
provinces of Manitoba and Prince Edward Island had joined the Canadian federation.
Mr Speaker, I deem it very relevant to outline that Canada has a history of a unique and outstanding relations with Ghana and interactions between these two countries even date back to the pre-independence era of the Gold Coast when in 1906, Quebec missionaries established a church in Navrongo in northern Ghana, thus marking the arrival of the first Canadian presence in the country.
Since then, bilateral relations between Ghana and Canada has been strong and cordial, and has been further enhanced by the more than 60 years of cooperation on the global scene, particularly in the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
One of such relations is evidenced in trade and investments. Mr Speaker, Canada's commercial involvement in Ghana includes significant gold mining and infrastructural development. Through Canada's Enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy to Strengthen Canada's Extractive Sector Abroad, the Government of Canada helps Canadian companies strengthen their CSR practices and maximise the benefits their investments can provide to those in host countries.
[REV FORDJOUR] [REV FORDJOUR]
In 2016, trade between Ghana and Canada reached Canadian dollar (CAD) $265.3 million. Canadian exports totalled more than $252.3 million, while imports from Ghana reached CAD $67.2 million.
Export Development Canada has designated Ghana as one of its four (4) key markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other elements of interest are the presence of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and the existence of a Canada-Ghana Chamber of Commerce. Mr Speaker, Ghanaian and Canadian officials have met on many occasions in recent years to exchange and discuss proposals for bilateral Air Transport Agreement.
In October 2011 for example, both countries concluded an MoU allowing for Canadian carriers to offer code- share services to Ghana. It is worth mentioning that on Parliamentary Diplomacy, Ghana-Canada Parlia- mentary Friendship Association was the first in the 7th Parliament of Ghana to host counterpart Parliamentarians and Senators in the Parliament of Ghana in August 2017, where best legislative practices were benchmarked and shared. In exchange, the leadership of Ghana's Parliament and other Parliamentary Committees have on separate occasions visited Canada's Federal Parliament and Senate in Ottawa as
well as the Provincial Legislative Assembly of Ontario to further deepen the already cordial diplomatic relations between the two Parliaments.
Mr Speaker, Canadian relations with Africa and Ghana in particular, have resulted in significant development and humanitarian assistance. As a matter of fact, Ghana was the first country in Africa to receive development assistance from Canada in 1957 and remains an eminent development country of focus. Canada is among the top five bilateral donors to Ghana. Between 2015 and 2016, the Government of Canada contributed more than CAD $135 million in official development assistance to Ghana.
Mr Speaker, Canada's bilateral development programme has focused more on supporting climate-smart agriculture as an engine for inclusive and sustainable economic growth; improving access to and use of affordable and nutritious foods; increasing access to sanitation and hygiene services in under-served areas thereby stimulating sustainable economic growth through improving public financial management and reducing barriers to doing business, while promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Effectively, all these interventions
serve as credible examples for Ghana, which when taken seriously, would greatly inure to our benefit.
Mr Speaker, on the occasion of Canada's 152nd Independence, it is instructive to note that the remarkable narrative of Canada as a nation-state, offers a great deal of hope and distinguished example for the people of Ghana, especially in the area of enhancing the agro-industry as well as the utilisation of our natural resources for economic gains.
At the Confederation stage, Canada was regarded as rural and underdeveloped country of approxi- mately 3.6 million people with agriculture comprising 40 per cent of the country's GDP, a total output of Canadian dollar (CAD) $388 million as at 1870 and real per capita GDP at CAD $2,700.
From this humble beginning, nonetheless, Canada has grown to become one of the most successful countries in the world with a creditably high standard of living. By 2015 for example, Canada's GDP was nearly CAD $2 trillion and its per capita GDP was approximately CAD $55,000. Presently, Canada's population of some 37 million people is 85 per cent urban while major cities regularly top international rankings for livability and quality of life.
Mr Speaker, Canada's 9.984 million square kilometre land coupled with its 202,080-kilometre coastline makes it the second largest country in the world after Russia, with considerable endowment of natural resources and population density of four people per square kilometer.
Unrelentingly, Canada's economy has grown over the years to become the 11th largest economy in the world, and has the 19th highest per capita GDP, the 10th largest exporter in the world, and ranked 9th on the Human Development Index.
Mr Speaker, I conclude by stating that the above mentioned impressive facts attributed to Canada were not achieved overnight, but as of July 1, 2019, that country had chalked 152 years since its founding, which only points out that economic success is a process and it is achieved over time.
Therefore, I believe that with hard work, able-leadership and the adoption of ingenious and novel flagship programmes like free and compulsory education, One district- One Factory and Planting for Food and Jobs among others, are the sure ways to go as a country so that we make strides to transform our dear nation into one that is economically viable and sustainable.
[REV FORDJOUR] [MR DAFEAMEKPOR]
On this note Mr Speaker, I sincerely wish all Canadians, particularly those living in Ghana, a Happy Independence anniversary. God bless Ghana, God bless Canada, and God bless us all.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
