Chungsen Leung

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I realize that the member is from the fine Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, from which I also had the pleasure of exporting lots of capelin and lobster to the Far East.

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will address my comments through you.

The response from the Chinese government was, “I appreciate doing business with a state-owned enterprise because I know you will not run away from us.” That is the security that the Chinese are looking for. It is a different model of doing business.

Second, what I wish to address with the member for Malpeque is whether it would be of interest to his constituency if I could expand a market in China where they can export billions of tons of oysters and clams instead of a very small market. Why would we not open a market internationally that would allow that export, thereby improving the standard of living for his constituents?

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me address a few points raised by the hon. member for Malpeque.

First, regarding the SOE, state-owned enterprises, I wish to clarify for you that when I first went to China to do business, and at that time I represented a Crown corporation, the question that was asked of me was, “Mr. Leung, is your corporation owned by your province?”

I thought about the implication of that and I decided to answer, “Yes, it was a crown corporation.” You know, the response was—

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely not true. In the eighties when I was first doing business in China, we often had problems dealing with non-tariff barriers, Chinese standards on certain things, and Chinese methods of payment. But in the past 30 years, China has understood and recognized that it has to do business internationally and has to conform to international standards.

This trade agreement has, between nations, put in place the type of contract, the type of language of contract, the type of payment terms whether it is by letter of credit or by documenting its acceptance, the type of international quality control standards, and inspection standards that both parties have adhered to.

At the same time, it allows for mutually agreed upon accounting standards whereby we can work out issues having to do with foreign exchange, accounting standards, and finally it has mechanisms for dispute arbitration whether it be ICC or ICU. It is in total conformity, bringing China into an international standard of doing business.

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, what a pleasure it is to stand in the House and speak to international trade. My speech will be broken into two parts. The first part has to do with some of our trade accomplishments. Then the second part will be more specifically addressed to our FIPA with China.

Our government's top priority is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in every region of Canada. That is why we are working hard to open new markets to increase Canadian exports to the world's largest, most dynamic and fastest-growing economies. Since 2006, our government has consistently opposed protectionist measures around the world and has stood up for free and open trade, showing leadership on the world stage in what was, and continues to be, a challenging period for the global economy. Canada has proven resilient through these tough global economic times.

Today, Canada is further ahead than any other G7 country when it comes to creating jobs and economic growth and further ahead than any other when it comes to our debt to GDP ratio. At the same time, Canada is just one of a handful of nations in the world with a triple A credit rating. We proudly lay claim to having the safest banking system in the world for five years, according to the World Economic Forum. Overall, Canada boasts the best fiscal position of the G7 countries and the best fiscal prospects in the G20.

It is not without good reasons that Forbes magazine has opined that Canada is the best country to do business in the G20, and the Economist Intelligence Unit has declared Canada to be the best place in the world to do business in over the next five years.

Before I delve into our trade and investment relationship with China, I will take a few moments to recap some of our government's accomplishments in promoting the interests of hard-working Canadians internationally over this past year.

Canada joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership and participated in the first full round of negotiations. The TPP is a significant opportunity to not only serve as the central pathway for economic integration in the Asia–Pacific region, but is designed to be expanded to include other countries. In fact, it is hoped that the TPP will act as the catalyst to reinvigorate the Doha round of the WTO. Once completed, the TPP will not only strengthen Canada's effort to broaden and deepen its trade relationships with dynamic and fast-growing Asia–Pacific markets, but it will also reaffirm and invigorate our traditional partnership in the Americas.

We launched the first round of negotiations with Japan for an economic partnership agreement. Japan is the world's third largest economy and a key trade and investment partner for Canada.

Furthermore, we announced exploratory discussions for a bilateral free trade agreement with Thailand and achieved observer status with the Pacific Alliance which is a group of four fast-growing Pacific countries in Latin America.

We saw the entering into force of the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement and royal assent given to the Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, which came into force on April 1. This builds on other free trade agreements our government has signed in the Americas, including with Peru, Honduras and Colombia, all agreements the New Democrats have opposed. In fact, the NDP trade critic, the member for Vancouver Kingsway, argued against a free trade agreement with Colombia because “the trade unions do not want it”.

Our government has also placed an emphasis on the importance of promoting international education. An advisory panel of eminent Canadians provided recommendations to help guide Canada's international education strategy. International students contribute over $8 billion to the Canadian economy and $445 million to government tax revenues each year, supporting more than 86,000 jobs.

We completed the fifth year of the five-year global commerce strategy, the launching of a cross-country consultation and the naming of an advisory panel to help shape the next phase of the strategy.

We established a record number of trade missions to advance Canada's commercial interests abroad, including to India, China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Russia and Libya, and the Minister of International Trade conducted a historic trade mission to Burma just this past spring.

In North America, we signed a two-year extension to the Canada-United States softwood lumber agreement that would secure access to the U.S. market for Canada's softwood lumber until 2015. This means continued predictability for Canadian softwood lumber exporters and the hard-working forestry workers who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.

We continue to make ongoing progress in implementing the Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation Council action plans to improve the flow of people and goods between Canada and the United States and laying the foundation for more jobs and growth in both countries.

While I am discussing our partnership with the United States, I would be remiss if I did not remark upon our celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. Since the coming into force of the agreement, Canada's annual GDP has risen by $1.1 trillion. Nearly 4.6 million jobs have been created in Canada and two-way trade in goods of services with the United States has more than tripled.

Now we all know that the NDP opposed this agreement from day one. Even today, despite the NDP leader's attempt to whitewash his party's socialist history, page 18 of the NDP policy book states, “New Democrats believe in...Renegotiating North American Free Trade Agreement”.

Any party that would threaten the economic well-being of Canadians with such a reckless proposal simply cannot be trusted. The fact is that last year our two-way trade in goods and services with the United States exceeded $742 billion. That is nearly $2 billion a day or almost $1.4 million every minute of the day. These numbers are not simply statistics. They represent some 2.4 million Canadian jobs that the NDP would simply throw away. Therefore, the NDP's anti-trade credentials are well established.

Our government's leadership in resisting protectionist measures and continuing to create new opportunities for our exporters has been key to Canada's success. Thanks to our actions, Canada's workers, businesses and exporters, including small and medium-sized enterprises that form the backbone of our economy, now have preferred access to, and a real competitive edge in, more high-growth and emerging markets around the world than any other economy in our history.

In less than six years, our government has concluded free trade agreements with nine countries: Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, Panama, Peru and the European Free Trade Association member states of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. As I mentioned, Canada is also engaged in negotiating with large, dynamic and fast-growing markets, including the European Union, India, Japan and the countries that comprise the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

I will now focus on one aspect of our trade strategy, and that is our engagement with China, of which I speak with a little experience. I first started doing business in China in 1982. My business experience in China has been exporting mass-transit equipment, engineering services, agriculture and fisheries products to the Chinese businesses.

The simple fact is that our government is providing Canadian businesses with the tools they need to invest with confidence in China. Conversely, China is rapidly expanding its middle class and consumer base. Its population of 1.4 billion offers an enormous market to Canada's exporters. It is soon to be the world's largest economy.

Before I discuss the important part the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement plays in our trade and investment relationship with China, I would like to remark upon the importance of the people-to-people ties between our two countries, which is supported by more than 1.4 million Chinese Canadians residing in Canada. Our continued success in applying trade and investment as the twin engines of economic growth will rest upon these ties. Fundamentally, it is the strong people-to-people links that are helping us take our relationship to the next level.

In my remarks so far, I have emphasized that our Conservative government is committed to creating the right conditions for Canadian businesses to compete globally. Canada's foreign investment promotion and protection agreement with China, the world's second largest economy, will provide stronger protection for Canadians investing in China and create jobs and economic growth right here at home.

At its core, the agreement establishes a clear set of rules under which investments are made and under which investment disputes are resolved. For Canadian businesses looking to set up in China, they cannot be treated less favourably than any other international company looking to do the same. Once an investment is made, a Canadian business cannot be treated less favourably than any other business.

The agreement also ensures that all investment disputes are resolved under international arbitration. This is an important part of the agreement as it ensures that adjudications are independent and fair. Thanks to this FIPA, Canadian investors in China will no longer have to rely on the Chinese legal system to have their disputes resolved. I also have experience in resolving disputes in China.

It is also crucial to note that ours is the first bilateral investment agreement that China has signed that expressly includes language on transparency of dispute settlement proceedings. Our government has repeatedly made it clear that it is our long-standing policy that all dispute resolutions should be open to the public and that submissions made by the parties be available to the public.

Let me clear. Under the agreement any decision emanating from the dispute resolution will be made public.

It is unfortunate that for months the NDP and its anti-trade allies have continued to spread myths about this agreement. Let me clear up a few misconceptions. First, Canada retains the ability to regulate and legislate in areas such as the environment, culture, safety, health, and conservation. Furthermore, the agreement maintains Canada's ability to review foreign investments under the Investment Canada Act to ensure they provide a net benefit to Canadians and that our national security is not compromised. There is no doubt Chinese investors in Canada must obey all the laws and regulations of Canada just as any Canadian must.

Nor, as the NDP likes to pretend, is the agreement somehow unusual. Canada-China foreign investment promotion and protection agreement is a reciprocal agreement similar to the 24 other investment treaties Canada has signed with key trade investment partners. Canada is one of several countries, along with such countries as New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands which have all signed investment treaties with China, often on terms less favourable than the terms that Canada has negotiated with China.

This investment treaty will help protect the interests of Canadian investors. The primary purpose of the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement is to ensure that Canadian investors can invest in China with greater confidence, thereby spurring increased investment in China and creating jobs and economic growth right here at home. We have been very clear with the Chinese government that Canada wants to continue to expand its commercial relationship with China, but only in a way that produces clear benefits for both sides.

We are seeing these clear benefits to Canadians. Not only is China the world's second-largest economy, but it has recently become Canada's number two export market, second only to the United States.

In fact, Canadian goods exported to China rose 15% last year to over $19 billion. Not only that, but Canada's exports to China have nearly doubled under our Conservative government. All this being said, it is unfortunate that the NDP and professional anti-trade activists have continued to spread such misconceptions about the importance of trade to the livelihood of Canadians and about this agreement in particular.

Thankfully, Canadian investors and exporters can count on our Conservative government to create conditions for them to compete, and win, in the global economy for decades to come.

[Family and Youth Support Services Fair and Youth Job Fair, March 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am please to rise to share with members an event that took place recently in my riding of Willowdale.

On March 2, I had the honour to co-host, with the Toronto District School Board, the second annual Family and Youth Support Services Fair and Youth Job Fair. This event included a youth job fair, which encouraged and provided job search assistance as well as employment and volunteer opportunities for students and youth.

This was truly a co-operative approach to helping out the citizens of the community by providing information for seniors, students and families with all levels of government. This was an excellent opportunity to learn about and share the many services and organizations that existed in the community to support youth and their families as they encountered everything from learning opportunities and challenges, to mental and physical health matters, to looking for employment.

It was truly an inspiring event of which I was proud to be a part.

[Scouts Canada, February 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to stand and mark Scouts Day on the Hill.

Scouts Canada is the country's leading youth organization, offering exciting programs for boys, girls and young adults from age 5 to 26. The Scouts' mission is to contribute to the education of young people through a value system based on the Scout promise and law to build a better world where people are self-fulfilled and play a constructive, meaningful role in society.

Scouts Canada is also developing Canada's leaders of tomorrow. It empowers youth by providing opportunities to take on leadership roles, starting as young as eight years old.

Scouts also volunteer to build their communities. Whether it is a food drive, painting a community centre or helping out at a shelter, a Scout is there to help.

Today Scouts Canada is a highly diverse, co-ed organization with more than 100,000 members nationwide, representing every religion and culture.

L'Association des scouts du Canada provides scouting activities to more than 17,000 francophone youth from coast to coast to coast.

On behalf of Scouts Canada, I remind all members of the reception being hosted today by the hon. Speaker—

[Citizenship Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to address Bill C-425, put forward by the hon. member for Calgary Northeast. Bill C-425 proposes to fast-track citizenship for members of the Canadian Forces who are permanent residents, by reducing their residence requirement for citizenship by one year. This would be for the Canadian Forces members who have signed a minimum three-year contract and have completed basic training. It also proposes to take citizenship away from, or deny citizenship to, those who engage in an act of war against the Canadian Forces. Such individuals would permanently be barred from reapplying for citizenship.

I applaud the hon. member for Calgary Northeast for introducing this important and worthwhile bill. Indeed, Bill C-425 is consistent with the government's commitment in the 2010 and 2011 speeches from the throne to support Canada's armed forces and to protect the safety of our citizens and defend against threats to our national security. Bill C-425 is also consistent with key objectives of Canada's immigration system, such as ensuring that newcomers and citizens participate to their full potential in fostering an integrated society. For all those reasons, we support Bill C-425 moving forward to committee stage for a thorough review and study to determine if it could be effectively implemented and that Canada's international obligations would be respected.

The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of the Canadian Forces and our commitment to serve Canada in defending its values, interests and sovereignty. We are committed to ensuring that those who serve Canada are recognized for their service.

Generally speaking, Canadian citizenship is a requirement for enrollment in the Canadian Forces, but permanent residents may also be employed in exceptional circumstances. The problem is that their lack of citizenship and challenges related to security clearance and passport arrangements can make it difficult to deploy them for service abroad. Introducing a fast-track to citizenship for permanent residents serving in the Canadian Forces, as proposed in Bill C-425, is a win-win situation as it would honour their services to Canada and make their deployment abroad much easier.

In fact, last fall our Conservative government announced that members of the Order of Military Merit at the colonel level and above are now eligible to preside in citizenship ceremonies. The Order of Military Merit, established in 1972, recognizes distinctive merit and exceptional service deployed by the men and women of the Canadian armed forces. Many of these individuals demonstrated dedication and devotion beyond the call of duty, and the order honours them for their commitment. It is therefore fitting that recipients of this award can preside at citizenship ceremonies, an occasion at which we reflect on the value of Canadian citizenship and the responsibilities we carry as Canadians, a value that the members of our armed forces so courageously defend.

In regard to the proposal to take citizenship away from, or deny it to, those who engage in acts of war against the Canadian Forces, I was interested to learn that some of the provisions to take away or bar citizenship already exist in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Canadian citizenship is extremely valuable. Members of the Canadian Forces risk their lives on a daily basis to defend it. So, it is definitely worthwhile to further study the proposal that those who would attack our Canadian Forces should not themselves have Canadian citizenship. Canadian citizenship is about far more than the right to carry a passport or to vote. Citizenship defines who we are as Canadians, including our mutual responsibility to one another. This is why we launched a citizenship action plan three years ago, to strengthen the value and meaning of citizenship.

As part of the action plan, we produced a new citizenship study guide entitled “Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship”. The guide provides essential information for anyone preparing to become a Canadian citizen. This helps ensure that all newcomers have more knowledge of the country they are joining. “Discover Canada” provides a much better overview of Canada's tradition, value and history, including our immigration history, than its predecessor. The old guide contains no reference to the Remembrance Day poppy, for example, and little mention of the stories and symbols that make us who we are today.

We are pleased that it has been a tremendous success, popular with citizenship applicants and established Canadians alike. Furthermore, our government has taken action to crack down on citizenship fraud. We are ensuring that anyone who lies about who they are, their residency in Canada or hidden past criminal activities would have their citizenship stripped.

We have also taken action against unscrupulous immigration representatives who fraudulently establish evidence of residents in Canada while living abroad most if not all of the time. This is perpetrated so that individuals can fraudulently maintain their permanent residence status and later apply for citizenship. There are currently 11,000 fraud investigations under way, including 3,100 for citizenship fraud. We are sending a clear message that Canadian citizenship is not for sale. We are applying the full strength of the law to those who have obtained their citizenship fraudulently.

I am sure all hon. members would agree that the bill has a worthwhile objective. Its spirit is laudable. It deserves a thorough study at committee to ensure that the bill achieves what it intends to achieve, that it can be effectively implemented and that Canada's international obligations continue to be respected.

I look forward to working with the sponsor and the members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in the hope that the good intentions of Bill C-425 are achieved.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, immigrants come to Canada from all countries and it is unfortunate that there are elements of immigrants who will prey upon people from their home ethnicity because of linguistic difficulty and so on. I cite the case of Chinese immigrant, Mr. Weizhen Tang, who scammed over $60 million from other Chinese immigrants to promise this Ponzi scheme of investment. As I canvassed my community, 60% of which are immigrants, they are all in favour of this bill.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative government took power, we inherited a backlog of 800,000 cases and that was growing. We are trying to eliminate the backlog and one of the measures was to eliminate 280,000 foreign skilled workers. In the Conservatives' opinion it is almost inhuman to ask someone to wait seven or eight years for an application to be processed. Therefore, we have given them a better chance through the provincial nominee program and a just-in-time program where they can find a match for their jobs before they immigrate. The process would take less than 18 months or so. These are fairer things that we are doing.

In regard to the member's question about foreign criminals, our job as parliamentarians is to protect the borders of Canada. Our job here is to save taxpayer money. Therefore, “foreign criminal” is a nomenclature that refers to criminals who are not Canadian citizens. The fact that they are permanent residents and have not made that commitment to become Canadian citizens, perhaps they could be described as “foreign”. Therefore, the reason that we refer to them as “foreign criminals” is that they are not Canadian citizens.