Donald Trump presidency won't hurt Ontario economy: minister

With Donald Trump soon to be occupying the White House, Ontario economic development minister Brad Duguid is trying to calm fears that the new U.S. president will be bad for the province's economy.

Duguid told a business audience "to take a huge, deep collective breath," during a speech at a downtown Toronto hotel on Thursday afternoon. 

"I'm not at all convinced that the rhetoric we heard in the campaign will transfer into serious problems for Ontario or Canada," he said. "Trade with our jurisdiction is crucial, absolutely crucial to the new president's efforts to create jobs and grow that U.S. economy." 

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Duguid pointed out that Trump in his victory speech vowed to work in the "best interests" of the U.S. 

"It's in the best interests of the United States to continue its trading relationship with Canada," he said. "Make no mistake; they need us nearly as much as we need them."

Canada-U.S. trade now totals $687 billion a year. Duguid said half of that involves Ontario.

He said he knows "there are a lot of Canadians who have been just a little bit knocked off balance" by Trump's win, but added, "I think it's important that we also quickly regain our footing."

Ontario has gained 641,000 net new jobs since the recession, unemployment is at 6.4 per cent — below the national average for 18 consecutive months — and the province's GDP is forecast to grow by 2.5 per cent this year, leading the G7.

"So there's really no way to argue against the fact that Ontario's economy overall is strong and growing," said Duguid.

Some people have good reason to feel they've been left behind "because they have," said Duguid, especially those who used to work in the manufacturing sector, which was hard hit during the recession.

"There are many blue-collar and service workers who lost their good-paying jobs in the last recession ... and are still outside the labour market," he said.

The fact that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 4.9 per cent under President Barack Obama didn't seem to matter on election day, added Duguid.

"I believe that Donald Trump's campaign struck a chord with Americans who feel disconnected from the economic growth others are experiencing. I think we can learn from that."