Canada’s Opposition leader received a history lesson while stopping in Sarnia-Lambton Wednesday.

Specifically, Albertan Rona Ambrose found out the modern oil industry had its start in the small Ontario town of Oil Springs, site of the first commercial oil well in 1858.

“I always assumed it was Alberta,” said Ambrose, calling the revelation the “best-kept secret” and, laughing, saying she won’t tell anyone back in wild rose country.

“It’s really amazing.”

The interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Ambrose was in Sarnia meeting with constituents and seeing the sights as part of a southwestern Ontario tour.

About 80 people paid to ask questions and hear her speak at a luncheon, hosted at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club by the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club of Sarnia.

Ambrose, during her talk, took aim at the Justin Trudeau Liberals for Canada’s recent job loss numbers – 31,000 in July – and called for Trudeau to come out aggressively in support of free trade.

“I’m concerned because I haven’t seen the prime minister of Canada get up and give a pro-free trade speech and talk about the benefits of free trade,” she said. “This was something that’s very different than what we’ve seen in the last 10 years.”

She noted several trade agreements were signed when Stephen Harper was prime minister.

“And when you’re a small country, you have to be aggressive with free trade, and many of our jobs rely on free trade in this country.”

Ambrose has heard privately that a Canada-EU trade agreement is on track, with government support, she said.

“But you need to hear it right from the top.”

Earlier this year Trudeau said he won’t rush into a free trade agreement with China, citing human rights and governance concerns. He oversaw the signing of a free trade agreement with Ukraine last month, and spoke in favour of free trade alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in June.

Ambrose also called for lower taxes, and support for pipelines.

“We’ve seen these pipelines run though this region safely, carry a commodity safely and create thousands of jobs,” she said. “So we need the government to move quickly on pipelines.”

The government is currently considering a conditional National Energy Board approval of a controversial Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project between Alberta and British Columbia.

“We need to see a business-friendly environment,” along with low taxes and an aggressive free-trade agenda, Ambrose said. “Otherwise we’ll continue to bleed jobs.”

With files from the National Post

tkula@postmedia.com