Meet Ed Fast

Ed Fast was first elected to the House of Commons in 2006, and was re-elected in 2008, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021. He had previously served for two terms as an Abbotsford School Trustee and for three terms as a member of Abbotsford City Council. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Ed practiced corporate and commercial law in Abbotsford for 24 years.

On May 18, 2011, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Ed to his cabinet to serve as Minister of International Trade. He assumed responsibility for development of the Government of Canada’s Global Markets Action Plan, which created a more competitive Canadian economy by deepening Canada’s trade and investment ties in dynamic and fast-growing economies around the world. His accomplishments include free trade agreements with the European Union, South Korea, Ukraine and negotiations on the original Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also oversaw negotiations on modernizing free trade agreements with Israel and Chile.

Prior to his appointment to cabinet, Ed served as a member of the Standing Committees on Canadian Heritage, and Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Justice & Human Rights.

Since 2015, Ed has served variously as the Conservative shadow minister for environment, industry and finance.

Ed’s Private Member’s Bill C-277 to amend the Criminal Code to increase from 5 to 10 years in prison the maximum sentence for luring children over the Internet for sexual purposes received Royal Assent in 2007 and became the law of Canada.

In 2011, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel for British Columbia, and has received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to his community and country.

Ed and his wife Annette have lived in Abbotsford, BC for 42 years. They have four daughters, four sons-in-law, and fourteen grandchildren.