International Trade Committee on March 8th, 2012

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Andrew, if you want to talk to that too....

Have you put forward suggestions as you start to develop that 21st century mentality? I know the negotiators who are involved with these are very open to having suggestions and recommendations, because we've always believed in Canada that if we're going to have an agreement, it has to be a win-win for both. It has to be a living document in some respect, so that, as changes happen so quickly, we can address those. The non-tariff barriers are a huge problem, but they would look for suggestions, I suspect.

[Kathleen Sullivan]

Part of it is to try to use the negotiations themselves as leverage for dealing with issues. We've done that with the EU. We've used the fact that we're negotiating to encourage the European Union to focus on some GMO issues that we have with them, the point being that we won't sign a deal until they solve those problems, even if they're not in the text of the deal.

The other things we are doing are setting up committees. We have a joint veterinary management committee, on the livestock side, with the EU. We're hoping the negotiations will set up something similar for both canola or oilseeds, and also for grains, with the EU. It's also about building, I think, into the language of agreements adherence to international standards and international bodies and the rules and regulations they have set forward.

Minister Ritz has been a great champion on low-level presence in GMOs, as you know. There's a conference in Washington in two weeks that is trying to bring international groups together to establish some standards for that.

You can't just rely on the trade deal. You've also got to rely on the international standard-setting bodies as well. But the trade deals need to force the country you're negotiating with to adhere to those international standards, and there have to be enforcement mechanisms in it for recourse.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

We have a very short time left, about three minutes. Mr. Ravignat and Madame Péclet have a couple of very short questions.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

We have five minutes?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

No, you won't have five minutes; you'll have the best part of three minutes.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I think I gave up some of mine.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Actually, you did.

Go ahead, Mr. Ravignat.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I wasn't really done, Mathieu.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

You're using my time, Mathieu.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You're actually wasting time now.

Was Mr. Ravignat going to start?

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Okay, start.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Either way, you two fight it out.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

All right, let's just go.

Just to add to my distinguished colleague, Ron Cannan, they also don't have the monopoly on wanting to see some trade happen. I'm particularly concerned about an issue in my riding, and it's forestry. I come from the Pontiac, where a number of plants have closed over the years. In Quebec that industry is in crisis. In Quebec and close to Quebec 600 jobs have been lost.

Just recently 200 jobs were lost in Maniwaki near my riding. What I would really like to ask you, Mr. Casey, is what can you tell those workers? A lot of them are seasonal. How is this trade deal going to help them secure their jobs?

[Andrew Casey]

Your riding is not unique, unfortunately.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

No, it isn't.

[Andrew Casey]

Certainly it is something that has affected the industry across the country. So I'm talking to all employees in the industry, all 240,000 people who continue to be employed in the industry. I would say that that these deals help to diversify our markets. It gets us away from our dependence on the U.S. market, and we've seen what over-dependence on one big market can do.

It creates new markets for the industry and for its products. It creates niche markets for the products. I used the example of cement bags for Egypt. It creates new places for us to sell our products, and an important part of our business plan going forward is to ensure that the jobs are here for the long term.

We think that, as we grow those markets, they will be there for us in the future, and that it's the one way to keep jobs here, to grow the marketplace, and to sell more product.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you.

Madame Péclet, you have one minute.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Kirke, you focused your remarks on the rights of workers. As we know, this issue comes up often in the textile industry.

Why not do like the United States and include provisions on protecting workers in the treaty itself, rather than in a separate agreement?

[Bob Kirke]

I have no particular expertise in the structuring of labour provisions within a trade agreement. I actually have less confidence that it will be where you resolve those problems. Companies will solve those problems through multilateral organizations such as the ILO. So if this committee cares to, maybe we can reinforce our commitment to Better Work Jordan in conjunction with this trade agreement, because I don't think within the confines of the agreement you're actually going to find what you're looking for. But there is progress being made, and I think we need to take stock of why there is progress, and reinforce it so that it has as broad an impact as possible.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

I want to thank you very much for coming in and lending your expertise to the discussion on this agreement.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.