Evidence of meeting #15 for International Trade in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was ceta.
2:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
We would argue it starts when you start managing the forest, but that's—
2:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
What I will say is the traditional definition of it is you take something that has been processed in a primary fashion, so touched the first time, and when you touch it the second time, it's either secondary or tertiary manufacturing. That's what you'd call value-added—
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
In your presentation you stated the products from the high value would be the ones making the most money or being able to—
2:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
Right, and that product range can be anywhere from a clear shop-grade board that you're going to send there that would be made into windows and doors, say, in Italy, to actual cabinets or those kinds of products.
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
What some people are afraid of is that we actually do send the boards to Italy and they get returned into windows, as you just stated, or furniture, or things like that. Is that inability we have in Canada not being able to export to Europe?
2:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
There are a whole bunch of factors that go into that. If somebody can actually make money making windows and shipping them into Italy, they're free to do that.
2:40 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
What you find is that for those kinds of products, cabinets, windows, and those kinds of things, it's better to do that manufacturing closer to the customer. We're not very close to the Italians, for instance, so what we do is build our business around—
2:45 p.m.
Liberal
2:45 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
There are some things that you can do and you can't do. The point of the matter is that the supply chain in British Columbia is commercially driven. You can't legislate a value-added industry. You have to create the hosting conditions for an entrepreneur or a company to be able to go out and say, “I can do this.” So what we have on the coast of British Columbia—evidenced by 100 firms, 3,100 people, $1.6 billion a year in sales—is a very robust, value-added industry that's driven commercially.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Thank you very much.
Mr. Cannan, the floor is yours for seven minutes.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to our witnesses. It's great to have some more perspectives on this issue.
First of all, Ms. Alto, as a former city councillor, I spent nine years in Kelowna city council, I was with UBCM, and I've had just over eight years now as the member of Parliament for Kelowna—Lake Country. I had the pleasure of being with Mayor Dean Fortin to do the groundbreaking for the Johnson Street Bridge, $16.5 million in federal funding. How is that coming along?
2:45 p.m.
Councillor, City of Victoria
It's great. We love the federal government when it comes to infrastructure.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
2:45 p.m.
Councillor, City of Victoria
Absolutely. Much more than, I have to say, our provincial counterparts who gave us nothing.
2:45 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Coast Forest Products Association
They've even done it in a manner where you can still drive over the old bridge.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
I see in your bio that from 1992 to 1996 you worked for the health minister at the time.
2:45 p.m.
Councillor, City of Victoria
I did. Wow, you've looked up my background. That's so exciting.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative