Evidence of meeting #48 for International Trade in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was opportunities.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
I just want to make the point that we're not talking about development assistance here, but I think we have to remember that the flip side of this is that some of the smaller economies, where we're working with CIDA and other programs, will benefit from FTAs. From their vantage point, they now have tariff-free access to a major North American economy. We saw this in Latin America and we're seeing it now in Colombia, so you can anticipate benefits, because they will now have major access to a market like ours, for example, in the agrifood sector, where we don't grow vegetables in the winter; we don't grow fruit. For them, it's a wonderful opportunity. We can raise employment opportunity in some of these small economies that are vulnerable by giving them access to important markets in Canada, where we can't produce a certain product at certain times of the year. So it does assist the development of these countries and it's win-win.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Very good.
I want to thank you, Mr. MacKay and your colleagues, for coming in. You actually started our session off; you've closed off our witness list, and we will be completing clause-by-clause on Thursday. I want to thank you for coming in and contributing to this very important piece of legislation that we believe will go all the way this time.
Thank you to the committee members.
With that, I'll close our meeting and we'll adjourn.
