Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. On our exports, we haven't noticed a huge.... Canada is the global leader. We export about 60% of the world's canola. Sunflower is certainly part of the broader oilseed complex. Ukrainian production of sunflower is far less than Canadian production. Australia is our biggest competitor.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. We're supportive of the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. Ukraine is a competitor globally; however, we know we have a huge diaspora of Ukrainians in western Canada. A lot of western Canadian farmers are of Ukrainian descent. We're agnostic about the benefits for our sector, but we're very supportive of Ukraine as a nation, and of modernizing our free trade agreement into something that also helps to uphold rules-based trade.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks for the question. Absolutely. For canola, for example, nitrogen is the second most important input after moisture. If we do not have nitrogen, we cannot grow a canola crop, and canola is a heart-healthy cooking oil. It figures prominently in biofuels, etc., and meal, particularly for animal feed.

Foreign Affairs committee  The war highlights the importance of strengthening our multilateral trading system to ensure it remains relevant in our increasingly unpredictable world and contributes to a further breaking down of barriers to trade. For example, the WTO underpins our global trading system, providing rules of engagement, mechanisms to ensure transparency between member states and a forum to ensure trade corridors remain open.

Finance committee  There's certainly been a lot of rhetoric about this. Interswitching has been used in Canada since the 1900s. Railways are consistently switching the locomotives or train cars. Actually, every shipment that goes to the port of Vancouver, whether it's CP or CN, ultimately gets put on a CN locomotive to go over the bridge.

International Trade committee  I'll maybe ask my colleague, Janelle, who does a lot of work with international institutions, to provide her perspective.

International Trade committee  Just quickly, without the biofuel market in the EU, our exports there would be almost non-existent to the European Union, given the way they treat biotechnology and crop-protection products. All of our canola that's destined for the European Union is destined for the biofuel market, so it's a very important one.

International Trade committee  It really depends on what you're exporting it for. If you export canola as a seed for crushing, it could be used in any way that jurisdiction uses it, as appropriate. There is intellectual property attached to the creation of that seed variety, and that is often patented. Our non-tariff trade barriers aren't so much an intellectual property on canola; they are more on asynchronous approvals of genetically modified events or on the use of modern crop-protection products.

International Trade committee  Yes, I think the Japanese are watching closely the investments in the crush plants in Saskatchewan that you alluded to. We have a long-standing relationship with the Japanese. It's a very stable and important market. The Japanese are certainly interested in importing raw seed, and I think that for Canada, even with our crush plants coming online, the market will dictate where that commodity goes.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. As my colleague, Chris Davison, said, we're always hopeful of avoiding it ever getting to a dispute resolution, a formal process. It's time-consuming, and it often leads to a deterioration in bilateral or multilateral relationships. That being said, the threat of it is an important part of a negotiation, and, as we observed with CETA, there's certainly a lot to comment on there from an agricultural perspective.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. Oftentimes, in the canola sector specifically, there are portions of regulations that should be under CETA. It says the EU “may”, and the interpretive EU “shall”, so they really take some liberties with some of the language choices there. It is incumbent upon Canada, as a trading nation, to really focus on the implementation of trade deals.

International Trade committee  There are a number of different dispute resolution mechanisms. I think the one we see that is fairly lacking right now is the World Trade Organization and the reform that needs to be done there. The United States has not appointed judges to the appellate body, so the international institution that underpins our entire international framework is lacking.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear as part of this important study. I was with you not too long ago, wearing a different hat, but today I'm joined virtually by my colleague, Janelle Whitley, senior manager, trade and marketing policy, and we will be sharing our time for opening remarks.

Agriculture committee  Yes. That's accurate. All our interactions to date with the government, including with Minister Bibeau—today we had her at our board meeting—indicate that it is still a voluntary target. We haven't seen any change in that. We do know that things change, but right now there is no regulatory legislative attachment to that goal.

Agriculture committee  The canola plant is one of the best fuel crops for sequestering carbon. For canola, it's water and then nitrogen. Canola cannot produce its own nitrogen; it needs nitrogen. Nitrogen is the key thing that gets yield. Thirty-five years ago, say, canola yields in Alberta were 20 bushels an acre.