Ed Fast, Abbotsford, CA
The Honourable Ed Fast, PC, KC has been a Member of Parliament for Abbotsford since 2006 and served under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper served as Minister of International Trade and for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. For almost 5 years he led Canada’s most ambitious trade agenda ever, leading negotiations on free trade agreements with the European Union (CETA), South Korea, Ukraine and the original Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries. He is a lawyer by training and spent 24 years practicing corporate and commercial law in Abbotsford, BC.
In 2006, Ed was elected to Canada’s House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Abbotsford. He was re-elected five times. He had previously served two terms as an Abbotsford School Trustee and three terms as a member of Abbotsford City Council, three of those years as Deputy Mayor. In 2011, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in recognition of his distinguished service and leadership in the legal profession. Among other responsibilities, Ed served for 3 years as Chair of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice & Human Rights.
Ed was also in the room with Prime Minister Harper when he travelled abroad and met with world leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Benjamin Netanyahu, Shinzo Abe, Narendra Modi, Angela Merkel and David Cameron. Over his many years in public office, Ed has developed an extensive network of contacts within the global trade and investment community and within Canada’s community of political and business decision-makers.
Since the 2015 federal election, Ed has served variously as the Conservative Shadow Minister for Environment, Industry and Finance. He recently announced his retirement from federal politics and is committed to sharing his knowledge and experience with trade-oriented organizations. Ed and his wife Annette have lived in Abbotsford, BC for 43 years. They have four daughters and their spouses, and fifteen lively grandchildren.