Steinbach MLA and Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says it's very important that cooler heads prevail in the NAFTA negotiations. He says it's frustrating to hear some of the comments coming out of Washington because they don't reflect the thinking at the state and provincial level. Goertzen has served for a number of years on the Midwest Canada-U.S. Relations Committee, the last few years as chair. He says they will be meeting in Winnipeg in July with hundreds of U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives in attendance and there will be a lot of talk about trade.

Kelvin Goertzen"I know from the last many years of working on that committee and developing relationships in the U.S., that there's a great connectivity from a trade perspective, but also a cultural and friendship perspective, between us and those midwestern U.S. states. So it's both frustrating and somewhat baffling to see what's playing out on the scene in Washington because there's no question that there are strong connections."

Goertzen says NAFTA has become much more than just a trade agreement.

"You'll have goods, and automobiles are a classic example but there are others, that a particular good will cross the border many times before it's completely done. So we're not really just trading partners anymore, we're business partners, we're building things together. So what's playing out on the trade thing is very concerning from an economic perspective, but it's baffling from every other perspective when it comes to the relationship that exists between Canada and the U.S."

Goertzen says the July meeting of the Midwest Canada-U.S. Relations Committee will be more important than ever in sending a strong message to the national governments.

"There was a hope that we could come out of this (NAFTA talks) stronger and not weaker and so those discussions that we're going to be having in July in Winnipeg, take on greater importance than ever. It'll be very important for us to have a strong message coming from those meetings to our respective national governments that there has to be an understanding that this relationship that we have is not just unique, it's beneficial, it's mutually beneficial."