Yes, way. You are.
Mr. Speaker, they do not even realize that.
We have a growing Indo-Canadian community. It is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada today. We can look at the city of Winnipeg and the impact that community has had on Winnipeg over the last 10, 20, 30 years. It is virtually second to no other community. In fact, in the north end, it is one of the driving forces behind the economic activity we are seeing in a very real and tangible way.
One of the greatest assets we have as a nation is our diversity. If we look at the Indo-Canadian community in particular with over a million people of Indo-Canadian heritage, it should be a given that any prime minister would make India a priority, as this Prime Minister has done.
Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,000 Canadian businesses in one form or another today have some sort of economic link to India. That number is growing every year. Hundreds of those businesses actually have a physical presence in India. Those individuals are helping create jobs here in Canada and in India.
Do the Conservatives and their NDP friends, who want to help them a lot nowadays, recognize the many benefits that were derived out of that trip? They want to focus on an innocent mistake as opposed to talking about the opportunities. If they got in touch with their constituents, they would find that India is a country that warrants the attention this government is giving it. If we continue to develop those relationships, both countries will benefit. That is really what that trip was all about.
Imagine $1 billion of extra activity between two countries in good part because of that trip, at least partly as a direct result of the trip. That will generate thousands of jobs for Canadians. We do not hear opposition members recognizing that, but that is fine. They do not have to. We are not twisting their arms.
I would have been more encouraged by the debate if the opposition motion had been about how important it is that Canada build a stronger relationship with India, maybe even looking at ways to enhance trade between the two countries.
I was at a Canada House event one evening where businesses, non-profits, and others were in attendance. I was part of many of the informal discussions that were taking place. The Prime Minister addressed that group and talked about the importance of the relationship between India and Canada. Not only were people there appreciating what he had to say but there must have been dozens of phones recording what was being said by the Prime Minister, and I suspect it was all over social media.
When the Prime Minister of Canada makes a trip of that nature, we cannot buy that kind of advertising for Canada in India. It just cannot be bought. The amount of attention that was given because our Prime Minister went to India is significant among the people of India and also back home in Canada.
Many members of the Indo-Canadian community in particular have approached me and talked to me about the trip in a positive fashion. I can count on one hand, and maybe only use two fingers of that hand, the criticisms that have been brought to my attention personally on the issue. However, I would need a lot more than two hands to count the amount of appreciation that I have witnessed just from one community alone in regard to the benefits of the trip. I understand and appreciate just how important that trip was. It was about building relationships.
The New Democrats talk about the 14 MPs and I believe it was six ministers who went. I was one of those members of Parliament who went. I paid my own way to get there, but I can tell those members that I enjoyed the experience. I had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of individuals. I was able to speak to students at elementary and secondary schools and at colleges, to share all sorts of wonderful ideas and thoughts about how important it is that we continue to build those bridges. It was a fantastic experience. Most of my time was spent in the Punjab, one of the states I truly enjoy being in. I have been there before. Many of my constituents spend the months of January and February and even longer in the Punjab region of India. These ties give Canada a strategic advantage over other countries in the world. We should be fostering and encouraging that wherever we can.
Let us look at some of the benefits. I made reference to $1 billion. A billion dollars is a significant amount of money. On an annual basis, we are talking about 40,000 jobs, if we were to allocate it just to minimum wage jobs here in Canada. A billion dollars is a lot of money. More significant than that $1 billion is the amount of trade between Canada and India today. I believe it is just over $8 billion. In the last year or so, it has increased significantly. I suggest that if the opposition members were to open their eyes and get a better understanding of the potential that is there through an enhanced relationship between Canada and India, that number could increase dramatically, and I believe that it will. A good reason for it to increase is that we have a government in Canada today that has a very proactive approach on trade and is very much interested in what is taking place in India.
I was amazed. As I said, I spent most of my time in the Punjab. When the Prime Minister came to the Golden Temple, there were banners and thousands of people who wanted to see him. It is truly encouraging, and we should be proud of that fact, no matter what side of the House we sit on, because we cannot buy that type of public relations and advertising within the country of India.
I had no sense of what the international media were reporting here, but in India thePrime Minister was exceptionally well received, from what I could see. At the events that I participated in, a couple of them in New Delhi but otherwise in the Punjab, there was that recognition when talking to people, “Oh, yes, the Prime Minister of Canada is here.”
I have been to India before, and I have never seen a past prime minister receive the type of recognition this Prime Minister received in terms of having that physical presence in the country.
When we talk about that event, I posed this in one of my questions with regard to Mr. Atwal. Unfortunately, an invite went out that should not have, and when it was discovered it was rescinded. Rescinded means that it was taken away, and that the individual in question did not show up at Canada's High Commission. At the end of the day, at times mistakes happen. The government has been straightforward with that issue. However, what we see now is a concentrated attempt from the opposition to say that it wants this civil servant to come before a standing committee.
A couple of thoughts come to mind offhand. First and foremost, I believe we have a professional civil servant with an incredible career who acts in the best interests of Canadians, who did his job, and now, because the opposition wants to stir a pot and cause other issues, it says it wants him to come to committee. It wants to politicize it. Yes, that is what it is attempting to do. There is a standing committee for this. The Conservatives have already attempted to get the standing committee to deal with it. Standing committees operate on their own. Leave it with the standing committee, and let us see what happens.
I have been a parliamentarian for a good number of years, over 25 years or somewhere around there. At the end of the day, I have the deepest amount of respect for the fine work civil servants do. The Conservatives will argue today that this is an outstanding situation, and that they need to have this civil servant come before them, so they can ask him their politically charged questions. Well, they could make that argument for every public civil servant. On virtually any given day, they could be challenging civil servants to come before a committee of the House. Any opposition could generate why it believes a particular civil servant should be called before a committee of the House. Today, it just happens to be that civil servant.
If there was any sort of an official opposition that had confidence in the public service, as we do on this side, I do not believe we would be seeing this motion before the House today. If the Conservatives were true to their thoughts and feelings with regard to the importance of international trade, I would have suggested that today would have been a better day spent debating potential trade and other related issues with India. For example, I would like to hear what members across the way think we can do to continue to enhance those trade opportunities. We have so much in common with India, for example, a member of the Commonwealth, democracy, and a free market system. Most importantly, again from my perspective, we have an Indo-Canadian community of over a million people.
There are so many possibilities, and the sky is virtually unlimited in terms of how we can continue to build those bridges between Canada and India. The relationship today is far better between Canada and India than it was two years ago, and it will continue to get better. I predict now, and make it very clear, that we will continue to see more relationships being built, and more trade opportunities between both great nations.