Bill C-79 (Historical)

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation Act

An Act to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership between Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam

This enactment implements the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, done at Santiago on March 8, 2018.
The general provisions of the enactment set out rules of interpretation and specify that no recourse is to be taken on the basis of sections 9 to 13 or any order made under those sections, or on the basis of the provisions of the Agreement, without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.
Part 1 approves the Agreement, provides for the payment by Canada of its share of the expenditures associated with the operation of the institutional and administrative aspects of the Agreement and gives the Governor in Council the power to make orders in accordance with the Agreement.
Part 2 amends certain Acts to bring them into conformity with Canada’s obligations under the Agreement.
Part 3 contains coordinating amendments and the coming into force provision.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-79, An Act to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership between Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation Act

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand here on the first day of the fall parliamentary session to express my gratitude for being appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for International Trade Diversification; to commit to working with my colleagues on this side of the House and across all party lines, as well as with our colleagues in the Senate, to ensure the passing of the bill, Bill C-79; and to ensure I work with stakeholders and all Canadians for the benefit of all Canadians to grow our economy, create jobs and to ensure our values are protected.

It is a great pleasure to rise in the House today in support of Bill C-79, the implementing legislation for the comprehensive progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership, or CPTPP.

At a time when protectionism is on the rise, Canada's participation in the CPTPP sends a strong signal that Canada is open for business with the rest of the world, that our government is opening doors for our citizens and businesses to create more jobs and offer more choices, and that our government is committed to a fair, rules-based international trading system. Now, more than ever, it is essential for us to ensure that the trade agreements Canada implements respond not only to the needs of our commercial interests, but also bring tangible benefits to all Canadians. This agreement is about creating economic growth, high-paying jobs, more choices for Canadian consumers, and above all making sure all Canadians benefit, not just a few.

My hon. colleagues will know that the CPTPP represents an opportunity for Canada. Implementing and ratifying the CPTPP will help diversify Canada's trade and investment toward the Asia-Pacific region and solidify Canada's role in the economic landscape of Asia.

The CPTPP will serve as a cornerstone of our government's trade diversification strategy, connecting Canadian and investment to this dynamic and fast-growing region. In a region as deeply integrated and adaptable as Asia, the benefits of the CPTPP extend beyond enhanced market access to new and growing markets. Canadian exporters will also benefit from increased access to diverse and regionally integrated value chains with global reach.

Asia is important to Canada, and we see the CPTPP as a crucial step in our ambitious free trade agenda in the region. To this end, Canada has also engaged with China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, in exploratory discussions toward potential free trade agreement negotiations. We also have ongoing comprehensive economic partnership agreement negotiations with India.

Ambitious and high standard agreements like the CPTPP will help strengthen the rules-based international trading system and create a level playing field for Canadian businesses. It will also help us ensure the benefits of trade could be widely shared across all segments of society.

Diversifying Canada's free trade network will help ensure Canadian exporters could have preferential access to major markets beyond North America. The CPTPP will build on the achievements in our recent free trade agreements like the Canada-EU CETA once it entered into force. Canada will have preferential access to 51 different countries through 14 trade agreements, representing nearly 1.5 billion consumers and over 60% of the global economy.

The 11 CPTPP members represent a total of 495 million consumers and 13.5% of global GDP. Canada's export to our CPTPP partners totalled nearly $27 billion in 2017. The scope and ambition of the agreement means businesses of all sizes in all sectors and regions of our country will find new opportunities to do business in Asia.

The CPTPP is projected to boost Canada's GDP by $4.2 billion over the long term. That growth will be driven by increased exports of goods and services and increases in investments and international partnerships. This means more jobs and more prosperity for Canadians.

Implementing and swiftly ratifying the CPTPP will allow Canada to strengthen our economic ties with 10 key markets in the Asia-Pacific regions, including our current free trade agreement partners in Chile, Mexico and Peru, and seven new FTA partners in Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

For example, Canadian businesses will begin to enjoy the benefits of new preferential access to Japan, the world's third largest economy and our fourth largest trading partner. In 2017, bilateral merchandise trade between Canada and Japan reached $29.3 billion. Japan is also Canada's largest source of foreign direct investment from Asia.

The CPTPP will provide preferential access to Japan, eliminating or reducing tariffs on a number of key Canadian exports ranging from canola, beef, pork and salmon to lobster, lumber, steel and aluminum products. This will level the playing field for Canadian exporters with respect to competitors that already have preferential access to Japan, such as Australia. This will also help Canadian exporters gain a competitive advantage over exporters without preferential access, like the United States, and Canada does not currently have an FTA with Japan.

Canadian service providers will also benefit from enhanced access and greater predictability and transparency in Japan and other markets. The CPTPP will create new opportunities for Canadian service providers in sectors such as professional, research and development, environmental and transportation services.

Canada will also have new access to the rapidly-growing economies of Malaysia and Vietnam. Vietnam has been Canada's largest trading partner within the association of the southeast Asian nations since 2015 and has a forecasted GDP growth of over 6.3% in 2018. The CPTPP will provide preferential access to Vietnam for key Canadian exports in agriculture and seafood, including beef, pork, canola, ice wine and lobster, as well as in other sectors like forestry and industrial products. Financial service providers will also benefit from unprecedented access to the Vietnamese market.

More broadly speaking, Canadian companies will be able to invest with even more confidence in CPTPP markets, benefiting from greater predictability, transparency and protections under the agreement. Securing preferential access to CPTPP markets means that almost all Canadian products can be exported to our CPTPP partners without facing tariffs. Upon full implementation of the agreement, 95% of tariff lines of CPTPP parties will be duty free, covering 99% of Canada's current exports to CPTPP markets.

Preferential access also means a level playing field for Canadian products with respect to their competitors and will provide Canadian companies with a leg up on others that do not have the same level of access to CPTPP markets. This will translate into increased profits and market opportunities for Canadian businesses of all sizes in all sectors and in every part of our country.

As a result, implementing and ratifying the CPTPP will help create high-quality jobs and support Canadian farmers, fishers, miners, manufacturers, engineers, architects, investors and more. It means more opportunities for Canadian agriculture like beef, pork, wheat and canola. It means more opportunities for fish, seafood and forestry. It means more opportunity for Canada's diverse and innovative manufacturing sector, like aerospace, chemicals, cosmetics, industrial machinery, medical devices, metals and minerals, pharmaceuticals and glasses. It will also provide benefits for consumers, with lower prices and more choices at places like the grocery store.

The benefits of the CPTPP do not end at new market access. It also features a comprehensive set of rules that covers barriers beyond tariffs that Canadian businesses face when they trade and invest abroad. These include chapters that address technical barriers to trade and phytosanitary measures, as well as dedicated chapters covering cross-border trade in services, electronic commerce, temporary entry investment and government procurement.

In addition, the CPTPP includes provisions on state-owned enterprises and transparency in anti-corruption, which will help foster a fair and competitive business environment to help ensure that Canadian companies can trade and invest in CPTPP markets on an equal footing with their competitors.

In sum, the CPTPP is a robust trade agreement which rules will provide much-needed certainty for Canada as we look to diversify our trade and investment towards Asia.

I am proud to say that our government paid meticulous attention to the details to ensure that the interests of Canadian workers, businesses and culture are promoted. We made sure that we signed a good deal, not just any deal. The CPTPP also supports our government's commitment to ensuring that the benefits of trade are widely shared and can be enjoyed by Canadians across all regions and all segments of our country.

The CPTPP will help Canada promote labour rights and environmental protection as we enhance our trading relationship with our partners. The agreement's dedicated chapters on labour and environment ensure that CPTPP parties cannot lower their standards in these areas as a way to promote or attract trade and investment. In a first for Canada, both the labour and environment chapters are fully enforceable through the CPTPP dispute settlement mechanism, allowing us to ensure that our trading partners remain true to their commitments.

In other parts of the agreement covering areas like services, investment—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please. I know we are back after being away for a few weeks and there is great reason for colleagues to get reacquainted. However, I would like to remind the House that the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification has the floor. He has been doing his best to power through that, but he has a couple more minutes left to go before we have to interrupt him for statements by members.

I would ask all hon. members to guard their conversations until we get to that point in the next part of our rubric today.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I appreciate that, Mr. Speaker.

Our government is committed to helping small and medium-sized enterprises grow and create high-quality, middle-class jobs through trade and innovation. The CPTPP will help Canadian SMEs, which account for nearly 40% of our GDP and employ 10.7 million workers across the country, better tap into international markets and global supply chains.

The CPTPP is also Canada's first agreement with a dedicated chapter for small and medium-sized enterprises. The CPTPP includes commitments that promote the sharing of information online to help facilitate trade, as well as rules aimed at reducing costs and enhancing predictability and fairness so SMEs can gain access to CPTPP markets.

These are just some of the ways in which the CPTPP builds upon its ambitious market access outcomes for businesses so benefits of enhanced trade investment can be dispersed more broadly and support sustainable and inclusive economic development and job growth in Canada.

The CPTPP is the beginning of a new chapter in Canadian trade relations. As we seek new markets and diversify our trade, we can be excited about embarking on this new chapter together as we continue to open new markets and opportunities for Canadian businesses, workers, and consumers, and ensure that the benefits of trade can be felt in all parts of the country.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. parliamentary secretary will have up to five and a half minutes remaining for his remarks when the House next gets back to debate on the question, and then of course the usual 10 minutes for questions and comments.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-79, An Act to implement the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership between Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification has five and a half minutes remaining in his comments.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, I spent the majority of my speech talking about the immediate positive impact that the CPTPP would have on our economy and its potential for economic growth and job creation, as well as giving access to an incredibly large and dynamic market and access to a dynamic and a vibrant region. I talked about access to our small and medium-sized enterprises. I also talked about the ambitious standards that this new agreement set out, the improvements that our government had introduced to the previous version of the TPP and the number of jobs, middle-class jobs that it would create.

Let me spend the last couple of minutes of my speech talking about the potential, beyond the immediate impact, that this agreement will have.

These benefits for Canada are only set to grow further with the potential expansion of the CPTPP after it enters into force. A number of economies across the region have already informed us of their interest in joining the CPTPP by way of accession in the near future. ln fact, any economy that is able to meet the high standards and ambitious market access commitments of the CPTPP will be able to seek accession to the agreement after entry into force. This means even greater opportunities for Canada even after we implement and ratify the CPTPP as its membership continues to grow, which is why Canada welcomes the interest of several economies in acceding to the agreement.

Through the accession process, the CPTPP will become a vehicle for Canada to advance our economic and commercial interests with some of the world's fastest-growing economies, while setting a new standard for trade agreements in the Asia Pacific region. That is to say, the CPTPP is the beginning of a new chapter in Canadian trade relations, as we seek new markets and diversify our trade. We can be excited about embarking on this new chapter together, as we continue to open new markets and opportunities for Canadian businesses, workers, and consumers, and ensure that benefits of trade can be felt in all parts of the country.

lt is clear that this agreement provides the tools for Canadian industries to connect with more economies internationally and expand beyond the shores of the continent. That is why I call on all my colleagues to implement the CPTPP expeditiously.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to ask my hon. colleague a question. At the end of his speech, he talked about passing the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership as quickly as possible, which is a very important aspect of today's debate.

I have attended a number of press conferences and events at which farmers collectively called on the Liberal government to hurry up and ratify the CPTPP. All of our farmers have an interest in Canada being among the first six countries at the CPTPP table. If we are not, the first six countries will be served and Canada will be stuck with the leftovers.

However, this summer, the Liberal government refused our leader's invitation to hold a special sitting to quickly ratify the CPTPP.

Instead of talking and talking about how urgent it is, why did the Liberals not take action this summer to make sure that Canada was among the first six countries to ratify the CPTPP?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his support for the ratification of the CPTPP. We agree that the CPTPP is an important agreement for Canada and for Canadians and we are anxious to get it passed as quickly as possible. He also knows that to expedite any bill beyond normal parliamentary procedure would require unanimous consent in the House and he knows that it is not possible, unfortunately, to get that unanimous consent in the House.

With that having been said, the minister, the Prime Minister and all my colleagues here are committed to working with colleagues in other parties and passing the bill as quickly as possible to ensure Canadians benefit. We remain committed to being one of the first six countries to ratify the CPTPP.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, I welcome the parliamentary secretary to his new role and look forward to working with him on the international trade file in my role as critic for the NDP.

The trade committee did an exhaustive study, with 400 witnesses and a cross-country tour. I would encourage the parliamentary secretary to read that report, as well as the 60,000 letters Canadians wrote to the trade committee, 95% of which opposed the TPP.

He raised something that was very important, and that is the economic impact. I would also encourage him to read Global Affairs' own impact analysis, which shows conclusively that there is not much economic benefit for Canadians, but there is a risk to jobs. That is acknowledged by Global Affairs.

Economically, there would be a gain of $4.2 billion over a period of 22 years. Ironically, this is about the amount that Canada trades every single day. The economic impact of this agreement has been challenged, not just by the government itself but the Canada West Foundation. It found that the deal would lead to a .082% increase in Canadian GDP by 2035, and this represents a one-time increase after 15 years, not an annual increase. I would encourage the parliamentary secretary to read that.

Could he let us know whether he thinks sacrificing 58,000 jobs is worth this trade agreement?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her welcoming remarks and I too look forward to working with her and my colleagues on the international trade committee.

She referred to the exhaustive consultations that our government embarked on in the previous version of the TPP. Our government listened to all the stakeholders who came forward and offered their input. That is why, after a couple of years of consultation, we are proud that Canada has been the strongest voice among the 11 countries to improve the previous version of the TPP. We have protected a lot of the concerns that stakeholders raised in the previous version of the TPP and we are proud of this new version.

Canadians may not be surprised when they hear that the NDP oppose a trade agreement. It is not uncommon for us to hear the NDP speak with fear about what free trade may cause. However, history has proven that Canada depends on international trade. Our economy continues to grow, and it is clear to us that we need to also diversify our access to markets.

Yes, North America is an important market for us, but we are helping our businesses and consumers access brand new markets that are dynamic, that are growing. This will lead to the creation of new jobs and economic growth for Canadians and Canada.

[Ken McDonald, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Madam Speaker, I hope my colleague's speech will encourage the ratification of the CPTPP.

I want to ask him a question about the benefits to the middle class and those working hard to join it. I will add to that by talking about what the CETA agreement did for businesses in my riding. Ocean Choice International is a fish processing company that exports almost 100 million pounds of fish to 35 different countries. It told me that the CETA agreement made a big difference to it in accessing those markets and opening doors. That business creates hundreds of middle-class jobs.

Could the member comment on what this agreement will do in creating middle-class jobs and those working hard to join it?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is true that we just celebrated the first anniversary of the ratification of CETA and we have already witnessed significant economic growth. CETA has benefited our workers and businesses. Recently in The Globe and Mail there was a report about a 20% increase in traffic at the port of Montreal mainly due to CETA. We have also heard so many stories, like my hon. colleague's, of businesses in our own ridings that have been benefiting from CETA.

I want to assure my hon. colleague that we expect to see similar growth. Asia has the fastest growing middle class. Therefore, it is now to the benefit of our businesses to have access to that fastest growing middle class. It will also help our workers and businesses. That is precisely why we made sure that we protected high standards of employment and high standards for the environment within the CPTPP to benefit everyone.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Madam Speaker, I would like to welcome the parliamentary secretary to the trade committee. I look forward to working with him as we look at other trade files.

I am happy to see the CPTPP, or I will call it TPP, actually coming forward. This has been a frustrating file for me. It should have come forward three years ago and should have been signed. It would have been approved by Obama, it would have been approved in Mexico and we would not have the issues we face today with NAFTA. The TPP at the time was to replace NAFTA; it was the modernization of NAFTA.

Now companies, farmers and agriculture producers in western Canada are very excited about the TPP moving forward. They are very keen to see this happen. In fact, they wanted to see this happen last spring. They would have preferred to have that come forward versus marijuana legislation so they could take advantage of being the first movers in this agreement. However, we are here today doing what we have to do, and we will get it done. I am happy to say that it looks like it is finally going to get done this fall.

I am also very concerned. As we open up new markets for Canadian manufacturers, we have done nothing at home to make them more competitive to ensure they can actually compete in the markets we are opening for them. All the Liberals have done is taxed and over-regulated them. What is the parliamentary secretary going to do within the Liberal Party to change that?