OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is touting free trade as an antidote to the international financial crisis as he heads to Peru this weekend for the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.
"It is more important than ever that we work together in resolving the challenges we face in the global economy," Harper said in a statement.
"Free and open markets are the best way to ensure the global economy can quickly rebound from this period of global economic instability."
Senior government officials told reporters at a background briefing on Thursday that the APEC leaders are expected to follow up on last week's G20 meetings in Washington.
Canada and the other G20 nations left the Washington summit with a broad plan aimed at combatting the global economic meltdown that's threatens to plunge the world into a depression.
The officials say the APEC members will build on last week's talks by discussing a regional free-trade zone between the group's 21 members, which together account for more than half of global economic output.
The idea of a free-trade zone joining the APEC members has been bandied about for years.
But a government official told reporters the notion is currently in an "embryonic stage."
Canada, along with an informal group of eight APEC nations, is studying more regional economic integration.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, who is in Peru with International Trade Minister Stockwell Day, called a Pacific Rim free-trade pact "extremely important in this region."
"APEC is the number one free-trade zone. It's the most dynamic economic organization that exists on the planet," Cannon said.
He also cautioned against repeating past policy mistakes, such as trade protectionism, that helped hobble economies during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
U.S. president-elect Barack Obama campaigned in the Democratic primaries on a promise to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement in order to protect U.S. jobs.
However, there was relatively little talk of NAFTA during the presidential campaign this autumn.
Besides NAFTA, the Foreign Affairs Department's website shows Canada has free trade pacts with Peru, Costa Rica and Chile.
Canada recently concluded talks with Columbia, and it is currently negotiating deals with Panama, South Korea, Singapore and the Dominican Republic.
The APEC leaders are also expected to discuss barriers to trade, simplifying regulations and paperwork for businesses to encourage investment and anti-corruption measures.
The heads of state will also discuss counterterrorism and climate change before they leave Peru on Sunday evening.
There is a diverse mix of countries in APEC, including Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the United States and Russia.
