Former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell says Canada is trying to get a trade agreement with the European Union signed this year.

Campbell, now Canada’s High Commissioner to Great Britain, told the Vancouver Board of Trade in a speech Friday that such an agreement would be win-win.

“It's not just we'll open opportunities for us here and opportunities for Europe. We will be the only country in the world that has a direct connection with Europe and a direct connection with the United States,” Campbell said.

The world is watching to see if such a deal can be reached in such a difficult economic climate, said Campbell.

Campbell said the United Kingdom and Europe are also looking at Canada's business connections to Asia, because this country is in a position to facilitate a trade bridge between Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Diplomacy 'difficult'

Campbell said his job as a diplomat is a marked contrast to being a politician.

“It is a hell of a difficult job. I'll tell you. I've got to be polite for 24 hours a day now. It's just killing me,” he said, bringing a laugh from the audience.

Campbell said that since his return, some have taken to calling him, ‘Your Excellency,’ which he’d prefer people not do.

“I think we should put that aside for a while, right? You can call me -- this is one of the great things about not being elected anymore -- Gord or Gordon or whatever. But don't call me the other names I was called when I was elected.”

Campbell was B.C. premier for nearly ten years, stepping down in March 2011 in the wake of the introduction of the deeply unpopular HST, which will be abandoned by the new government under Premier Christy Clark. He was named high commissioner later that year.

Campbell declined to answer any questions about B.C. politics after the speech Friday.