International Trade committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, honourable members of Parliament. It's a great pleasure to be here. I am presenting here as an academic, as someone who has a lot of time and experience studying Japan—the Japanese political economy—but not representing any larger interest. What I'm

International Trade committee  This question of conglomerates, the so-called keiretsu, is an old one. This has been a critical component of U.S.-Japan negotiations since the early 1980s. In fact, back in the mid 1980s the U.S. and Japan had a big struggle over exactly the same problem, which blocks access for

International Trade committee  Yes, that's a difficult issue. That is structural. That will take time. One idea that would come to mind is improving investment from Japan into Canada. Typically, a fast way or a way that's quite direct in increasing more value-added exports is to invite the Japanese manufacture

International Trade committee  Well, in a nutshell, an EPA will have direct advantages for certain trade products. But the biggest advantages will be indirect and will be things downstream. In general, it will be seen as a catalyst for an improvement in relations. It will be all over the newspapers and in the

International Trade committee  There must be one roadblock, and I'm trying to think which one it is. Agriculture in Japan is very unequal. Some issues are very critical and will not move forward, and one is rice. Rice will be a big issue. I think Australia has some rice, so that would already be a killer.

International Trade committee  What I was told by members of Parliament with whom I spoke last fall was that at this point, there is no major, targeted opposition to this EPA. First, there is no identified product that will be a major red flag. Second, Canada has a relatively positive image in Japan and doesn'

International Trade committee  The Post is a more sensitive issue. It's politically salient. It's probably more difficult. Under Koizumi, in 2005, they went through a liberalization of the Post that would liberalize it for the private sector in Japan and also for international insurance companies. It just we

International Trade committee  Beef is an interesting issue, because it's quite sensitive in Japan. It's not just the government negotiating and giving something in a strategic way. It's more the bureaucrat thinking how the politicians are able to handle the public. So it's a bigger game. Ultimately, the way

International Trade committee  That is right.

International Trade committee  This is always a difficult question. There's no magic recipe. What we seem to see from some countries that are quite successful with this, that manage to keep a strong manufacturing base even with high labour costs, say Japan, or Korea, actually, is they keep moving upwards in th

International Trade committee  First we have to separate short term and long term, because it will evolve over time as you will spin out all kinds of outcomes. On the winners side, we should expect agriculture, beef, seafood, etc., education services, and then it's a matter of specifics. Everything will depen

International Trade committee  What I've often heard on the Japanese side is that this is an interesting trade deal. There is not strong opposition in Japan—unusually—because there is this complementarity in agriculture. There is no major risk for Japanese agriculture, but there's a lack of strong backers. So

International Trade committee  It would be seen as an advantage, right? Having the NGOs backing it and sending support would move politicians. So it can work in different ways.

International Trade committee  It's a big story, but very quickly, the Japanese public mistrusts GMO. They are not sure that we know all the long-term health hazards, and they're worried about environmental contamination. So there is a general unease among the public, like in Europe, and they don't call it a s

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, it is indeed a pleasure and an honour for me to appear before you today. I will give you the essentials of my comments in English, but I will be delighted to answer your questions in French if required. Just to make a happy litt