Bill C-8 (Historical)

Canada-Jordan Free Trade Act

An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

This enactment implements the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreements on the environment and labour cooperation entered into between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and signed at Amman on June 28, 2009.
The general provisions of the enactment specify that no recourse may be taken on the basis of the provisions of Part 1 of the enactment or any order made under that Part, or the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement or the related agreements themselves, without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.
Part 1 of the enactment approves the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreements and provides for the payment by Canada of its share of the expenditures associated with the operation of the institutional aspects of the Free Trade Agreement and the power of the Governor in Council to make orders for carrying out the provisions of the enactment.
Part 2 of the enactment amends existing laws in order to bring them into conformity with Canada’s obligations under the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreement on labour cooperation.

Business of the House

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

When members are called smug, they all cheer and applaud.

As for the business of the House, I believe the minister responsible for the Status of Women has a motion that she would like to move after I have concluded my response to the Thursday question. Following that, without anticipating the outcome of any vote of the House, there seems to be an appetite to allow members who will not be running in the next election to have two minutes each to make statements. Following these statements, we will continue with day one of the budget debate.

Tomorrow we will consider the last allotted day in this supply period. I do not know why the opposition coalition is talking about ending this very productive Parliament to force an unwanted and unnecessary election. Recent weeks have led me to conclude that this is the most dysfunctional Parliament in Canadian history.

Yesterday our Conservative government achieved royal assent for the following bills: Bill S-6 to eliminate the faint hope clause; Bill C-14 to provide hard-working Canadians some fairness at the gas pumps; Bill C-21 to crack down on white collar crime; Bill C-22 to crack down on those who would exploit our children through the Internet; Bill C-30, R. v. Shoker; Bill C-35 to crack down on crooked immigration consultants; Bill C-42 to provide aviation security; Bill C-48 to eliminate sentencing discounts for multiple murderers; Bill C-59 to get rid of early parole for white collar fraudsters, a bill the Liberal government opposed but the Bloc supported; Bill C-61, the freezing of assets of corrupt regimes; and Bill S-5, safe vehicles from Mexico. What a legacy for the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

The work of this Parliament is not done. There are a number of key and popular government bills that Canadians want. Next week, starting on Monday, we will call: Bill C-8, the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement; Bill C-46, the Canada-Panama free trade agreement; Bill C-51, investigative powers for the 21st century; and Bill C-52, lawful access.

Does the Minister of Justice ever stop fighting crime? He gets more and more done. In many respects, as House leader I am like the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice.

Of course, we need to complete the budget debate to implement the next phase of Canada's economic action plan, a low tax plan for jobs and growth. Therefore, Tuesday we will debate day two of the budget, Wednesday we will debate day three of the budget and on Thursday we will debate day four of the budget. We have lots to do and I suggest to the members across that we turn our attention back to serving the interests of the public.

While I am on my feet, I would like to serve those interests by asking for unanimous consent for the following motion. I move that, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act and the Marine Transportation Security Act shall be deemed to have been read a second time, referred to a committee of the whole, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to your ruling yesterday, we are working right now as we speak to comply on that issue and we will be responding in short order.

We will continue debate today on the Bloc opposition motion that began this morning.

Tomorrow, we will call for third reading of Bill C-55, the new veterans charter bill. I appreciate that there has been support for the passage of that bill. It is important for Canada's veterans and I am pleased that we have been able to come together on that.

Following Bill C-55, if time permits, we would debate Bill C-54, protecting children from sexual predators; Bill S-7, the justice for victims of terrorism; Bill C-8, the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement; Bill C-12, the democratic representation bill, which is an important bill for my premier in Ontario and particularly for the people in both Alberta and British Columbia; Bill C-46, the Canada-Panama free trade agreement; Bill C-57, improving trade within Canada; Bill C-43, RCMP modernization; Bill C-52, investigating and preventing criminal electronic communications; and Bill C-50, improving access to investigative tools for serious crime.

With respect to the business for next week, I will be, among other places, working hard in my constituency for the people of Ottawa West--Nepean.

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, before I respond to the member's question, I would like to, on behalf of the government, add my voice to the voices of the member for Toronto Centre and the member for Winnipeg Centre who spoke about the passing of a distinguished member of the parliamentary press gallery, Jim Travers of The Toronto Star. He was a long-time member of the parliamentary press gallery and a former editor of the Ottawa Citizen. Jim would have been just 63 years old next month. His passing in the hospital was completely shocking and unexpected.

Jim was a top national journalist and a columnist who never was afraid to make his views known on the printed page and on the airwaves as a frequent guest on panel shows and talk radio. He was a passionate Canadian. He loved this country and he was incredibly committed to his craft. Canada has certainly lost a legend.

On behalf of all of us in this place, I offer our sincere condolences to Jim's wife Joan, his sons Patrick and Ben, and to the rest of his family and friends, and his colleagues especially from The Toronto Star who, I know, are deeply saddened by this loss, and, indeed, all of his colleagues in the parliamentary press gallery at this very difficult time. The thoughts and prayers of all Canadians are with Jim's family and many friends.

In terms of parliamentary business for the coming week, today we will continue debate on the NDP opposition motion. I thank my NDP counterpart, the member for Vancouver East, after our difference of opinion. We have worked to make Parliament work and we have come to an agreement that has been satisfactory to both sides. I also thank my opposition colleagues from Ottawa South and Joliette for their assistance and agreement in this matter.

Tomorrow, we will resume and hope to complete debate on Bill C-55, the enhanced new veterans charter that our colleague, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, has introduced. Following Bill C-55, we will move to call Bill C-60, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (citizen's arrest and the defences of property and persons).

Next week, we will continue with the business on Friday and, in addition, we will call Bill C-20, the action plan for the National Capital Commission; Bill C-54, the child sexual offences; Bill C-8, the Canada–Jordan free trade agreement; Bill C-12, the democratic representation; Bill C-46, the Canada–Panama free trade agreement; Bill C-57, improving trade within Canada, brought forward by the Minister for Small Business; and Bill C-50, improving access to investigative tools for serious crimes, which is an important bill sponsored by our colleague, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

My friend from Ottawa South and the member for Vancouver East mentioned a solicitation for financial funds on parliamentary letterhead.

Mr. Speaker, as the chair of the Board of Internal Economy, I think it would be wise for you to place this issue before the Board of Internal Economy. There have been several complaints about opposition members soliciting campaign funds on government websites and perhaps the board could discuss that at the same time.

With respect to Bill S-10 and Bill C-49, we continue to make our case to Canadians and are working hard to convince the Liberal Party of the wrong decision it has made on these important piece of legislation. We will call for further debate in due course.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, boy, have I mellowed. I would not have said such nice things about the Badger even just a few short years ago, but I have mellowed and have become so quiet and soft-spoken since I arrived on Parliament Hill.

I would like to the thank the House leader for the official opposition for his questions.

With respect to Bill S-10, it is an incredibly important piece of legislation that goes after people who traffic in drugs, sell drugs to our children and who traffic in date rape drugs, which is something that is incredibly serious in many parts of the country. We want to see that bill passed and we will move forward on a path to allow it to be passed.

With respect to the bill on human trafficking, we want to see that passed. Again, it is an important piece of legislation. We do not want to provide the Liberal Party with an early opportunity to kill that good piece of legislation. I know they are anxious to kill legislation that is tough on crime, but we are going to stay focused.

Getting back to the business of the House, we will continue today with the Bloc opposition motion.

The parties are currently negotiating a way to proceed with Bill C-59, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (accelerated parole review) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. This is a modified version of what makes up part of Bill C-39, a bill that has been at the public safety committee since October 20, 2010. This is an important piece of legislation. The thrust of it has already received agreement in principle from this House. We will be continuing the negotiations on it, or dances, depending on how one defines that, with all parties on this issue.

Given that Bill C-59 will prevent fraudsters from getting out of jail after serving only one-sixth of their sentence, I hope there is sufficient support to move on this initiative without further delay. Tomorrow, therefore, we will either debate Bill C-59 or a procedural motion relating to Bill C-59.

Following Bill C-59, the government intends on calling Bill C-42, Strengthening Aviation Security Act; Bill C-46, Canada-Panama Free Trade Act; Bill C-55, Enhanced New Veterans Charter Act; Bill C-20, An Action Plan for the National Capital Commission; Bill C-8, Canada-Jordan Free Trade Act; Bill C-57, Improving Trade Within Canada Act; Bill C-50, Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act; and Bill C-12, Democratic Representation Act.

I could come back with more if we could get all of these bills passed on Monday.

That is the agenda for next week.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I have just a quick question. I thank my colleague.

First of all, Bill C-8 has been a huge step. In May 2006, it came in. This whole service and costing issue, I'm assuming, has been around for a long time, not just since then.

First of all, in any business, you can't determine costs without knowing the level of service. You just can't do that. So the process is right: you can't build your cost on bad service when you're talking about having a service report that's going to raise it. We're there to help you to do that.

Can you tell me, though, how long this servicing issue has been around? Greg?

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, before I respond to the hon. member's question, I want to say that at our House leaders meeting just two weeks ago, the government raised the issue of one of the Liberal members calling a minister of the Crown a “slime” five times.

The House leader for the Liberal Party is seeking to raise the decorum and the quality level of debate in this place. The member is a senior member of the Liberal shadow cabinet. Before I answer the normal Thursday question, I wonder if the member could update us on where we are on that.

The House leader of the official opposition has also been very passionate in wanting to reduce the amount of heckling in this place and yet we was rather egregiously heckling the Minister of Finance yesterday on Walkerton. I spoke with the member who represents that constituency and that community takes great offence at the continuing vilification of the name of their town. Maybe we will get that next week with the slime comment.

Today we will continue the opposition motion from the Bloc Québécois.

Friday we will debate Bill C-41, strengthening military justice, and Bill C-43, the RCMP labour modernization.

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of next week we will call Bill C-49, action on human smuggling; Bill C-47, sustaining Canada's economic recovery; Bill C-22, protecting children from online sexual exploitation; Bill C-29, safeguarding Canadians' personal information; Bill C-41, strengthening military justice; Bill C-43, the RCMP labour modernization; Bill C-54, child sexual offences; Bill C-33, safer railways act; Bill C-8, Canada-Jordan free trade agreement; and, Bill C-20, an action plan for the National Capital Commission.

Thursday will be an allotted day for our friends in the New Democratic Party.

Standing Committee on International Trade

[Lee Richardson, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

In accordance with the order of reference of Monday, September 27, your committee has considered Bill C-8, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and agreed on Monday, November 1, to report it without amendment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

The difference in the cost is really irrelevant in terms of the numbers. The only difference in cost is from splitting the group, and that means adding another translator, so it's about an additional $5,000. It will go either way, whichever group goes.

Anyway, we don't have time to get into a long talk about this. We'll talk about it Wednesday.

Moving on, following the order of reference, we have Bill C-8, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

We're going to proceed pretty much as Mr. Julian suggested, with clause-by-clause consideration. So we'll proceed in the normal fashion. Rather than voting each time, I think we can collectively just go on division, if that's agreeable to everyone else, as per Mr. Julian's suggestion. I'm getting nods around the table.

So let's proceed with clause-by-clause consideration.

Pursuant to Standing Order 75(1), consideration of clause 1 is postponed.

I think everybody is very familiar with the bill by now, so I'm just going to go through this rather quickly.

(Clauses 2 to 6 inclusive agreed to on division)

(On clause 7--Purpose)

Now we'll go to clause 7, and we'll pause here and deal with Mr. Julian's amendment.

Mr. Julian.

[David Hutton, Director General, Canada-Arab Business Council]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on International Trade, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to meet with you this afternoon.

For my colleague, Martha Harrison, and me, it's a privilege and indeed an honour to be included in your deliberations on Bill C-8.

At the outset of my brief opening remarks, let me congratulate the government and this committee on the conclusion of the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement negotiations, together with agreements on the environment and labour cooperation. We look forward to its early passage through the Parliament in the next few weeks.

This is the first such agreement with an Arab state. That is grounds for celebration and it certainly enjoys our fullest support. Equally--and may I add, hopefully--it will mark a very significant step, if perhaps a relatively small step, in the building of the economic architecture in which Canada needs to remain competitive, which is the Middle East and North African region, a region known as the MENA.

Mr. Chair, I've been asked to address this committee in my capacity, as you noted, as the director general of the Canada-Arab Business Council, a position I've held for the last four years. Prior to that, I was a Canadian trade commissioner, with my last overseas assignment, posted to the United Arab Emirates, where I had the privilege of serving as Canada's ambassador between 2002 and 2006. It's my hope that my experience and insights will be of value to you and to your colleagues.

I believe most sincerely that the trade and economic architecture that is being created between Canada and Jordan, of which the free trade agreement will play a prominent role, should be the model and indeed the norm for Canada's relations throughout the MENA region.

The foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, or FIPA, the air transport agreement, and the nuclear cooperation agreement, which have already been concluded, underpin a strong and growing relationship with an important strategic Arab partner. Jordan unquestionably deserves our full support.

Moreover, with Canadian exports of $66 million in 2009 to this market, it is not hard to imagine the impact that a network of similar agreements with other Middle East countries would have on the Canadian economy. Last year our total export trade to the Middle East was in the order of $359 billion.

This region is also one of our fastest-growing markets. Please note that this figure of $359 billion does not include the North African countries of the Maghreb, which would add many billions more to that number. We encourage this committee to play a leading role in the development of this overall trade and economic relationship.

In January 2009, the chairman of the Canada-Arab Business Council, Mr. Hugh O'Donnell, wrote to Prime Minister Harper and noted that “Canadian firms have been capitalizing on economic opportunities in the MENA region”, and with increased support, much more is attainable. The free trade agreement with Jordan is a very concrete example of the kind of support we are seeking.

Mr. O'Donnell's letter went on to note that the BRICs--Brazil, Russia, India, and China--are impressive developing markets, but our exports to the gulf region alone are comparable to those of India and greater than those to Brazil or Russia. Our competitors realize this. One only has to look at the economic architecture of the United States or the European Union, with the free trade agreements they have established in this region, and the initiatives of countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

In concluding his letter to the Prime Minister, the CABC asked that the following specific proposals be considered, and with your permission I will repeat them, as they remain as relevant today as they did almost two years ago.

The first was to promote stronger Canada-MENA trade by increasing the trade and economic resources assigned to the MENA. The opening of an embassy in Qatar is a very good example, but many other trade promotion resources are needed, including more trade commissioners. Jordan is served by a trade commissioner based in Syria, and while it's extremely well served, it is an example of a limitation on resources available.

Indeed, the agreement itself I think is a reflection of our own Canadian ambassador, Margaret Huber, and the former ambassador to Canada for Jordan, Nabil Barto, in realizing the agreements we're reviewing here today.

A second point would be to prepare an accelerated timetable to negotiate the foreign investment protection agreements in the MENA region and to expedite commitments to negotiate foreign trade agreements with Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Lebanon, which already have agreements with the U.S.A. or the European Union. With the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement, a precedent has been established and a useful template created.

Thirdly, we propose the organizing--hopefully in cooperation with the Canada-Arab Business Council--of a series of government-led trade missions to the region, with the objective of visiting all MENA countries in the next four years with repeat visits to priority markets. We welcome the recent visit of Trade Minister Van Loan to the region and the participation of a number of CABC members in his delegation. Visits of this kind would also be an important role for this committee, particularly during periods of a minority government. You in fact could provide a very useful service to Canadian exporters by providing continuity and a frequency of contact as we build our economic relations to this strategic region.

Certainly, if you'll allow me to have overheard your remarks, Chair, the welcoming of foreign delegations is just one more example of the kind of role you can play.

The next point would be to facilitate economical and efficient air links for cargo and business, student, and tourist travel by expanding the network of air agreements and the frequency of existing ones. The objective is to have frequent daily flights to as many Middle East locations from Canada as possible. The air agreement with Jordan is a most welcome one, and we certainly look forward to its expansion and implementation.

Finally, we propose the development of a welcoming visa control program for business visitors that would be completely in line with those of the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. Again, we welcome the recent steps the government has taken in this regard.

This is perhaps a technical point, but we propose updating the list of qualifying employers under the income tax overseas employment tax credit--OETC--to include education, health, and other sectors of the Canadian service economy. As Canadian businesses compete in providing health care, education, and engineering services to the MENA market, Canada is losing market share to other countries that do not need to factor in these added costs in their bottom line. The Jordan free trade agreement does not cover services, but I suspect that a broader coverage under the OETC for Canadians working overseas, including in Jordan, could do as much for the Canadian service industries as any FTA provision would. This, in fact, is something that could be done by Revenue Canada immediately.

Finally, into this mix of trade and services is the enormous role of investment and supply chain management in the international economy. FTAs, tax agreements, and FIPAs are the basic element for thousands and thousands of calculations and decisions that now govern international trade in Canada and elsewhere around the world. I noted with interest that Canada's investment in Jordan is now over $1.5 billion and focused in the potash sector. It's an interesting example of the complicated implications that various trade and policy investments play in the role of international trade these days.

Mr. Chairman, allow me to close my remarks at this point and pass the microphone to my colleague, Martha Harrison.

Before doing so, let me note on a personal basis that I believe the Standing Committee on International Trade plays a central, integrating role in the increasingly complex world of international trade and investment. Objective analyses of Canada's overarching interest in the international arena are more needed now than ever before.

I look forward to our conversation during the question period to follow.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our 30th meeting this session of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Today we're going to pursue our order of reference with regard to Bill C-8, an act to implement the free trade agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the agreement on the environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the agreement on labour cooperation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

We are welcoming witnesses from around the world today. We have with us in the committee room, from the Grain Growers of Canada, Richard Phillips, the executive director, and Gary Stanford, a farmer director of the Grain Growers of Canada. They are here from Alberta to provide witness today.

We also have witnesses via video conference, and I am looking at the screen. I hope you can hear me. When I mention your name, perhaps you could acknowledge such.

First of all, from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the AFL-CIO, we have Jeff Vogt, the deputy director for international development.

Mr. Vogt, are you there?

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I'll be sharing my time with my colleague, Ms. Hall Findlay.

Briefly, I know you didn't really cover a lot of Bill C-8, and I understand why, and I appreciate just a short brief in terms of the elimination of the tariffs and that it will take effect immediately. I think that's a plus for our cattlemen here in Canada, and thank you for putting that on the record. So I really don't have a lot to ask you on Bill C-8, as you haven't a lot to offer us.

Because we're moving toward the Canada-Europe FTA, I just want you to take a couple of moments and maybe give us some of the obstacles or some of the things we should be looking forward to or anticipating from your industry's perspective. Then I'll turn it over to my colleague.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

All right.

As I say, we've kept Mr. Masswohl long enough and we will get into his testimony. We'll probably do an opening statement of 10 minutes--if that works for you, Mr. Masswohl--and then do a round of questions.

I'd like to complete the meeting with another brief in camera session on the European Union. I have some suggestions for a change of date there, so we'll discuss that.

Okay, with that update, again, thank you, Mr. Masswohl, for coming.

John Masswohl, again, is the director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, here today to offer a position on Bill C-8, an act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Mr. Masswohl has been in front of the committee before and has proven very helpful to us. I should say at the outset that we welcome your statement and views today.

I will remind members, as in the past, that if there are further questions after the meeting today, we have always found the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to be very useful in providing additional information if asked for.

With that, thank you again for coming. Mr. Masswohl, would you open with an opening statement?

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

We will come to order with meeting number 29 of the Standing Committee on International Trade in this session of Parliament.

Today we are going to continue our discussion of the free trade agreement between Canada and the Kingdom of Jordan. This is a referral from the House of Bill C-8, plus an agreement on the environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the agreement on the labour co-operation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

We have had witnesses for one or two meetings and we are going to continue this. I would like to just bring to the attention of the committee the difficulty I'm having confirming witnesses. I have received a list from all the parties concerned, and we have contacted everyone on the list that you have submitted and those that have been submitted by the government as well.

We're having trouble with having the people here when we happen to meet and when they're available and that sort of thing. So today I'm grateful that we have our old friend, John Masswohl, director of government and international relations with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association with us, but he will be the only witness appearing today.

I'd like to try to avoid that in future—not just having you here, John, although it's always a pleasure. We want to hear a number of witnesses. So if I could ask some of you maybe to touch base with those on the list that you submitted and ask if they can't free up a Monday or a Wednesday to appear at the committee, then we can get this done.

How are we doing for the next meeting?

[Andrew Casey, Vice-President, Public Affairs and International Trade, Forest Products Association of Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you again to the committee for inviting us to appear on Bill C-8, an act to implement the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement.

It was our pleasure to be here when you were studying the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. I'm going to make a similar case today as to why we support this particular bill and this agreement. Even though the numbers may not be staggering, I think it sets a precedent for this industry from our standpoint, which we'd like to see carried forward in a number of other areas in the world.

By way of introduction, the Forest Products Association of Canada is the national voice, the national trade association, for Canada's lumber, pulp, and paper producers. We have about 22 members in our association and that membership represents the lion's share of Canada's forest products industry nationally from coast to coast in communities across the country.

The industry represents about 12% of Canada's manufacturing GDP and about 2% of GDP in general. We continue to employ over 220,000 Canadians directly. If you add our indirect employment of another 340,000 or so, we get up in and around the 600,000 job mark. That is, of course, spread across the country in pretty much every single province.

I want to mention one other aspect of this that leads you to a place where I want to go, which is the community aspect. Obviously, a lot of those jobs are located in rural parts of the country, and they're also centrally located in a number of small communities across the country. The past two to three years have obviously been extremely difficult for this industry, as members around this table and members in the Commons know. Daily, we've seen members from all parties get up and express support for the industry. For that, we're appreciative. Many of you have communities that have been subjected to the hardship this industry has been subjected to over the past couple of years, so you're no stranger to it.

Thankfully, we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, to use an overused expression, or a light around the corner, or whatever you want to call it, but things are looking up. We're seeing the markets in China start to grow. We're seeing an increase in pulp sales and wood sales to markets such as that and we're feeling somewhat optimistic. Of course, we still need the U.S. housing market to rebound for it to really be rock solid and for us to feel comfortable moving ahead.

That said, one of the things the industry needs to do—and has been doing for the past couple of years—is preparing for when those markets do return. We've identified a four-part plan, if you will, a strategy on where we need to go.

A big part of that, of course, is to become more productive and more competitive ourselves. It is incumbent upon our companies to do a lot of that, and they've been doing this over the past couple of years. Some of the restructuring you've seen--the difficult decisions that have been made in terms of closing mills--is part of the restructuring and part of that new competitiveness going forward.

Another element of it is to better our environmental and sustainable resource management track record further. We are leaders in the world. That has increasingly become a market advantage for the industry. We need to continue along that path and use this to our best advantage in the marketplace.

A third part of our strategy going forward is looking to maximize the resource. You've seen terms likes “added value”, but this is more a question of maximizing the tree and what we extract out of that tree. Right now, we use about 95% of the tree, but we'd like to it up that closer to 100%. This takes you into a world where you're into the bioeconomy, with bioenergy and biochemicals that can be extracted from the tree, a world where you still have the wood/pulp base as your economic base for the products, but then you go beyond that by expanding into the bioeconomy side of things.

A fourth part of the strategy going forward--and that's where this free trade deal comes into play--is that we need to expand and diversify our existing markets. Obviously, the U.S. market is our most important market. It will remain so for quite some time. It represents about 70% of our product exports. We export about $24 billion a year in total, so it's a fairly significant portion of our product that goes to the U.S.

But we can't depend solely on the U.S. marketplace. The softwood lumber dispute has shown that there are times when the relationship can be a little frayed. For that reason, the industry has looked to other marketplaces such as China and India. In this case, believe it or not, we see some potential in the Middle East, and maybe just in that context, it will open up the Jordan bracket.

You've probably seen the numbers. I think Canada's total exports to Jordan represent something like $60 million a year. As for our percentage, I think we happen to be the largest single exporter to Jordan at around $11 million a year. Those aren't big numbers, obviously, for an industry exporting $24 billion a year outside of our borders, but there are two important opportunities, one on the paper side and one on the lumber side.

The Jordan forest products market represents a general marketplace of about $370 million. Unfortunately, we account for only about 3% of that marketplace. It's also a market that's growing. Depending on the product lines, you're looking at 16% to 100% growth over a year-to-year basis, so we see enormous potential there.

Certainly, on the paper side, there's some potential to get rid of the tariffs and make us more competitive vis-à-vis some of our main competitors coming out of Indonesia and Germany. On the lumber side, we're seeing a very important marketplace in the form of plywood. Again, the reduction or elimination of tariffs would give us a leg up on some of our major competitors, primarily, again, coming out of Indonesia and of course China.

Again, as I've said, at $11 million, what we're sending there now is not a big number. Even if that were doubled it wouldn't be a big number in the grand scheme of things. But the reality is that a lot of these products come from certain parts of the country and can sometimes come from one particular company. So when you narrow it down, all of a sudden what seems to be a fairly insignificant number can be a very significant number for one or two companies.

We certainly feel that's the case here with the Jordan deal, where most of the products come from the two provinces of British Columbia and Quebec. If we can increase market share in that regard, that would be an important step in expanding existing markets and maybe even diversifying existing markets.

I'll leave it at that.

I am ready to answer any questions, and I can do so in French, if you prefer.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear today, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to begin and resume the Standing Committee on International Trade. This is meeting number 28 of this session.

Today we are going to deal with two matters. First of all, we're going to continue our reference for Bill C-8, an act to implement the free trade agreement between Canada and the Kingdom of Jordan.

To that end, we are pleased to have with us witnesses today from the National Labor Committee, from the United Steelworkers, and from the Forest Products Association of Canada. I'm going to start by introducing them. We will have just about an hour for our witnesses and then I believe we're going to go in camera for committee business in about an hour from now.

With that, let me first introduce Charles Kernaghan. Mr. Kernaghan is the executive director of the National Labor Committee. He's joined by Tim Waters. Tim, of course, is the political director of the United Steelworkers. Joining the committee again, we also have with us Andrew Casey, who is the vice-president of public affairs and international trade for the Forest Products Association of Canada.

We're going to ask our witnesses to give us a little perspective on where they're coming from and what their views are on this potential Canada-Jordan free trade agreement, with its accompanying labour agreement and an agricultural agreement as well.

It's the usual format. I'm going to ask Mr. Kernaghan to start. He will be followed by Mr. Waters and then Mr. Casey. They'll give up to 10 minutes each of discussion and then I'll open it to questions.

Without further ado, Mr. Kernaghan, would you begin?