German chancellor Angela Merkel ends official visit with praise for Canada

The world needs more Canada.

While she didn't say that verbatim, that seemed to be the recurring message coming from German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her official visit to our nation's capital this week.

At a joint press conference Thursday morning, Merkel reiterated that Canada's fiscal record is an "example" for the rest of the world.

According to the Bloomberg News, Merkel, who is facing pressure from global partners to do more to stop European financial contagion, praised Canada's budget discipline, promotion of economic growth and "not living on borrowed money" as models for the 17-nation euro region.

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"This is also the right solution for Europe," Merkel said at a reception in Ottawa late Wednesday, according to a transcript posted on the German government's website.

While the praise by a respected world leader is nice, what Harper really wanted from the bilateral meeting was Merkel's public support of a free trade deal between Canada and the European Union.

According to the Globe and Mail, Harper is eager to get the Canada-European trade deal done by the end of the year — the first of a long list of trade negotiations under way. And a public commitment from Merkel, leader of Europe's largest economy, would give the talks a lift as negotiators grapple with the sensitive issues that remain, including government purchasing, agriculture, and intellectual property, especially drug patent protection.

At the press conference, Thursday, Merkel said she hopes for a "speedy agreement" on Canada-EU trade.

"There are a number of outstanding issues out there but once I go back to Germany I will see to it that these negotiations come to a speedy conclusion because at a time when there is a lack of growth in the world, we, Canada and Germany, are convinced that free trade is one of the best engines of growth that we can have," she said.

Free trade with the EU would be the most important such accord the federal government has achieved since the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement of 1988.

A Canada-EU joint economic study, referenced in a 2008 Globe and Mail article that a free-trade agreement between the two jurisdictions could boost Canadian economic output by at least $12-billion annually.

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As a result, Ottawa hopes that Merkel makes good on her word and urges European negotiators to conclude an agreement by the end of this year.

Yes, the praise is wonderful but some enthusiastic support for the trade deal would be good too.