Bill C-4 (Historical)

Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act

An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States

This enactment implements the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, done at Buenos Aires on November 30, 2018, as amended by the Protocol of Amendment to that Agreement, done at Mexico City on December 10, 2019.
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 20 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 the coming into force provisions.

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I am calling the meeting to order of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, February 6, 2020, we are studying Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

Welcome to our fourth session.

The witnesses with us this afternoon for this panel are, from Dajcor Aluminum, Mike Kilby, president and chief executive officer, by video conference from Chatham, Ontario.

From KTG Public Affairs, we have Brian Topp.

From Syndicat National des Employés de l'Aluminium d'Arvida Unifor-Local 1937, we have Donat Pearson, president, and Éric Gilbert, vice-president.

Monsieur Pearson, I will turn the floor over to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Let's resume our meeting. We are doing a study of Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

We have a number of witnesses with us today: as individuals, Darren Erickson, pharmacist and owner of Tofield PharmaChoice, and Gayleen Erickson, business owner of Guardian Pharmacy, Tofield Medical Clinic; from the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, David Wiens, chair; from Prima Dairy Farm, Joel Prins; and from the Saskatchewan Milk Marketing Board, Matthew Flaman.

Welcome to all.

Mr. Wiens for the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, please go first.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call the meeting back to order.

We are continuing our study of Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

With us for this segment, we have the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Stuart Trew, researcher and editor; the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, president and chief executive officer by video conference; and the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, Mathieu Frigon, president and chief executive officer, and Dominique Benoit, treasurer and member of the board of directors.

Welcome to you all. We're going to start with the video conference.

Mr. Leblanc, the floor is yours, sir.

[Gilles Daigle]

In respect of the particular issue that is of concern to us, which first and foremost is term extension, CUSMA does; the implementation legislation, Bill C-4, does not, or at least it does not today. It is not acceptable to our constituency that we have to wait perhaps as long as two and a half years, because, as I don't have to tell this group, in politics and in government a lot could happen that could potentially change that obligation.

In a response to Mr. Hoback, I started talking about the fact that we've been told on so many occasions that the extension was going to be implemented. In 2012, it didn't happen. For the TPP, the extension was in the draft text. Canada pulled it. We now get to the new NAFTA. It's in CUSMA, but not right away. We're going to take as long as two and a half years to implement it. Why?

The message it sends to our members and to Ms. Mitchell as a publisher is “Your music is not as worthy of protection, the longer protection, as that of your peers.” In the U.S., Bruce Springsteen's works are protected for 70 years. For Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, it's 50 years. In Canada, we are not prepared to make that change today. We're going to see if we can do it in the next two and a half years. That's not good enough for our members anymore. We've heard that too many times. I'm sure that Ms. Mitchell, as a publisher, would probably have some thoughts on that as well.

[Gilles Daigle, Consultant, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada]

To be clear, our request would not require a change to CUSMA. It's Bill C-4, the implementation act, and we're talking about changing the number five to the number seven in about half a dozen places or fewer. This is as simple as can be. We could do it here in less than five minutes.

I would hope that this committee, taking that fact into account, will do everything it can to change those few numbers. I have to say that our organizations have been told many times that this change was coming. I've been in this industry for 30 years now. That's where the grey hair comes from.

[Andrea Kokonis, General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada]

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Andrea Kokonis, and I am the chief legal officer and general counsel at the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, or SOCAN for short. With me is Gilles Daigle, a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in Canadian copyright law.

SOCAN is Canada's largest music rights society and administers public performance, communication and reproduction rights of authors, composers and publishers of music. We currently have more than 160,000 Canadian members and clients, and we also represent the repertoire of all foreign performing rights societies and several reproduction rights societies in the Canadian territory.

SOCAN is deeply committed to fair compensation for Canadian music creators and their business partners for the use of their work, under a protective regime in Canada that is in line with that of its biggest trading partners.

The new NAFTA has opened the door to implement an important and long-awaited change in the term of copyright—extending it from 50 to 70 years after the life of the author—and to do so immediately. Yet, despite the clear intention and wording in the new NAFTA, Bill C-4 as it now stands does not address basic term extension.

There is no valid reason for Canada to delay, yet again, term extension of copyright in our country. We therefore urge this committee to recommend, in the strongest possible way, that the necessary term extension amendments be added to Bill C-4.

As it stands, Canada's copyright protection term is not meeting the current international standard. This places our members and all Canadian creators at a disadvantage compared with our major trading partners. An extension to copyright term would increase Canadian investment and business in copyright-based industries located in Canada by removing disparities between Canada and other major economies.

The current term of copyright protection in Canada—life plus 50 years for creators of musical and other works—is out of line with modern copyright law. After the original NAFTA was ratified, the United States, in 1998, increased its term to life of author plus 70 years. In 2003, Mexico increased the term of protection to life of author plus 100 years. As part of the NAFTA renegotiation, we asked for provisions that reflected this new reality, recommending that the minimum term of copyright protection be life plus 70 years. Our position was supported by all major organizations in the North American music ecosystem.

While in Canada protection for musical works is life of the author plus 50 years, by contrast the majority of Canada's largest trading partners recognize a general standard of the life of the author plus at least 70 years. These countries include all of the European Union members, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Peru, Brazil, Iceland, Japan and even Russia. Canada's current law is consistent with only the minimum protections set out over a century ago in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The intention at that time was to establish a term of protection that was enough to benefit two generations of descendants of the creator of the work. With longer life expectancies, a term of life plus 50 years no longer reflects the underlying intention of that treaty. Around the time that Canada joined the Berne Convention, in 1928, the average life expectancy was 60 years. It rose to about 81 years between 2007 and 2009.

As a result, the current term of protection afforded under the Canadian Copyright Act is insufficient to cover two generations of descendants of a songwriter, and the current term is therefore out of line with the policy objectives of the Berne Convention. As mentioned, this has been recognized and remedied by Canada's major trading partners. Canada's shorter term is also out of step with the emphasis and value that Canada has otherwise placed on the creation of works, both domestically as part of our heritage and internationally as leaders of cultural exports.

Canadians authors and composers of music, and their publishers, can be at a disadvantage as cultural exporters because their works may be subject to lesser protections internationally because of Canada's outdated term of protection. This is unfair and most unfortunate, as Canada's laws should not place limits on the ability of Canadian creators to exploit their works around the world.

A longer term of protection in Canada would better allow music publishers to reinvest the revenues they derived from the exploitation of copyright-protected works in the discovery, support and development of songwriters and composers. Additionally, from a multinational perspective, longer terms of protection in a market provide incentives for foreign companies to invest in repertoire in that market. In both cases, providing for a longer term of copyright protection in Canada would strengthen domestic reinvestment in cultural development and diversity, as well as foreign investment in Canada's substantial local talent. There is no justifiable reason to further delay the implementation of the extension. The government should fulfill its commitment immediately.

When Bill C-100 was introduced in the House last year, replaced by Bill C-4 in this Parliament, SOCAN and other music organizations were disappointed to see that, while some copyright modifications were made in the implementation bill, the term extension was not modified. It is our understanding that Canada has two and a half years to fully implement all of CUSMA, but we strongly believe the term extension was—and remains—a key piece of the renegotiation in light of the same extensions that our trading partners have implemented in their own home copyright laws.

The embarrassing reality at the moment is that Canadian authors have the same limited copyright protections as creators from countries such as Iran, Liberia, Pakistan, Syria, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Angola and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Our members deserve better than that. All Canadian creators deserve better than that.

SOCAN, therefore, recommends that Canada amend the Copyright Act to extend the term of copyright protection for musical works to the life of the author plus 70 years, in recognition of current international copyright norms as well as the underlying intention of the Berne Convention and other such benchmarks for valuing intellectual property. Specifically, SOCAN recommends that the basic term of copyright be extended under section 6 of the Copyright Act, as well as the very few other provisions that need to be added.

As part of the submission that we have handed out, we have also included with the speaking notes the chart that Music Publishers Canada created to show where the amendments should be made.

Thank you very much.

[Jennifer Mitchell, Director, Board of Directors, Music Publishers Canada]

Good morning and thank you, Madam Chair and honourable members, for this opportunity. I'm sorry I'm not available to be there in person.

I've had the pleasure of owning and running a Canadian-owned independent music publishing business for almost two decades. I'm here today with Casey Chisick of Cassels, who is external legal counsel to both Music Publishers Canada and my companies.

I'm here to talk to you about the need to fully implement copyright term extension, in accordance with CUSMA, immediately, completely and with no conditions. This will allow songwriters to succeed and small businesses like mine to thrive. Quickly ratifying CUSMA and implementing copyright term extension goes straight to the heart of their and our creative and business efforts.

Bill C-4 would extend the term of copyright for a few works but would leave out musical compositions—otherwise known as songs. On behalf of Music Publishers Canada and the songwriters and composers I work with, I urge committee members to amend Bill C-4 to align Canada with its global trading partners by including all musical, literary, dramatic and artistic works.

Canadian music publishing is a $329-million industry, just one sector of the $53-billion creative industry. Music publishers are innovators. Their strong export strategies have allowed entrepreneurs like me to better compete internationally. A total of 67% of music publishers' revenue now comes from foreign sources, a dramatic increase from 28% in 2005. The key to dealing with changes in technology has been our ability to expand globally. In order to do so, we take financial risks and invest our time, energy and money in building the international careers of songwriters, including emerging songwriters.

For example, we signed 23-year-old Tom Probizanski, which allowed him to move to Toronto. We then paid for him to go to L.A. and Denmark to co-write, and we set up his co-writing sessions. We also paid for his blog and playlisting promotion so that he was featured in Clash magazine, Earmilk and various Spotify playlists. We were able to take these risks and invest that money only because I could rely on the income of several songs for which my companies hold the copyright—for example, Imagine by John Lennon; What a Wonderful World; My Way; Y.M.C.A.; Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones; Skinnamarink by Sharon, Lois and Bram; and even the theme to The Simpsons. But a number of songs will soon fall into the public domain because Canada's copyright legislation is not aligned with international standards.

Holding on to these valuable copyrights for an extra 20 years would translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for good middle-class jobs, reinvestment in the Canadian economy and Canadian songwriters, and the ability to scale our business and export our music to international markets. Immediate action should be taken to prevent countless valuable works from falling into the public domain between now and the end of 2022. Otherwise, we risk stifling innovation, creativity, export potential and growth for small businesses like mine. We also risk creating more confusion, as remaining out of step with our international trading partners continues to complicate licensing for users instead of providing any relief.

I would like to quickly speak about the industry committee's report on its review of the Copyright Act in the last Parliament. Some believe that copyright registration is needed in order to have a seamless transition. I respectfully disagree. Publishers and songwriters already register all of their works with SOCAN and CMRRA in Canada in order to be paid. A second government registration system would create nothing more than an unnecessary burden for copyright owners and the potential to introduce abuse into a system that already works very well to the benefit of creators, users and the public. Mandatory registration would also violate Canada's international treaty obligations, even if it only applies to the last 20 years of an extended term. It is a basic tenet of copyright law internationally that protection must be granted without formality.

In conclusion, adding another 20 years to the life of a copyright means a robust creative sector, more Canadian cultural exports, and the growth of many innovative businesses that have embraced the digital market.

It is long past time for Canada to catch up to its international trading partners in this respect. We urge committee members to amend Bill C-4 to include immediate implementation of copyright term extension, with no conditions. Music Publishers Canada has prepared draft legislative language to accomplish this, which we've submitted to the clerk for the committee's consideration.

I understand that SOCAN will be presenting shortly. We've read their submissions and are in full agreement with them.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak to this important issue. Casey Chisick and I are happy to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm calling the meeting to order.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, February 6, 2020, we are studying Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

For witnesses this morning, we have Maryscott Greenwood from the Canadian American Business Council, by video conference from Washington. Welcome and thank you for joining us.

Then we have, by teleconference, Jennifer Mitchell, a director on the board of directors at Music Publishers Canada.

From the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, we have Andrea Kokonis, general counsel, and Gilles Daigle, consultant.

We are waiting for some folks from the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec who have not arrived.

We will start now with Maryscott Greenwood from the Canadian American Business Council.

Please proceed.

[Janice Tranberg]

Trade in beef and live cattle between the U.S. and Canada has created a highly integrated North American market that benefits the beef sector on both sides of the border. For all practical purposes, Canadian and U.S. beef industries operate within a single North American market where processed beef and live cattle move across the border in a relatively unimpeded and tariff-free manner.

Cattle feeding is the most valuable production component within the Canadian and U.S. beef value chain and both countries enjoy a tremendous benefit from a very high level of integration.

Even though the Canadian beef industry is approximately one-tenth the size of the U.S. industry, there is still a tremendous amount of reciprocal trade that occurs between the two countries in terms of processed beef, and even more with respect to live cattle.

The U.S. is Canada's largest export customer and Canada is the single-largest import supplier. Canada consumes about one-tenth of the U.S. exports and satisfies one-fifth of the U.S. required imports.

Each year, Canada processes three million head of cattle and yields about one million tonnes of beef. Canada exports 45% of all beef production annually, and about 75% to 80% of these exports are destined for the U.S.

The NCFA supports a swift ratification of this agreement and calls upon all MPs to ensure the quick passage of Bill C-4.

Our sector is not in a position to sustain any further trade disruptions with any of our trading partners, and the U.S. in particular. There is no room for reopening or amending the CUSMA at this stage if agriculture is to have any hope of growth and sustainability.

The FTA that occurred in 1988 and then NAFTA in the 1990s show beef as a good example of how free trade has strengthened industries on both sides of the border. These agreements inject a high degree of competition in the industry and have made North American industry a truly integrated market. Competition drove down input costs and increased productivity. This has allowed the North American beef industry to compete globally.

Going into CUSMA negotiations, the Canadian cattle feeders had four priorities: first, do no harm; second, improve market access where possible; third, include a specific commitment on regulatory co-operation; and fourth, no return of country-of-origin labelling, or COOL, in any form.

CUSMA builds on the success of NAFTA and restores long-term predictability to the North American supply chain. This is exceedingly important during this time of ongoing unpredictability in global markets.

Key benefits to CUSMA for the cattle feeders include no new tariffs or trade-restricting measures, meaningful progress on regulatory alignment and co-operation, and modernizing elements that will help bring NAFTA into the digital age.

CUSMA preserves and secures duty-free access upon which the North American beef cattle sector has been built over the past quarter of a century.

Producers appreciate that there is nothing in the agreement on mandatory U.S. country-of-origin labelling for meat or livestock, and that there is ongoing interest to address regulatory matters affecting cattle and beef trade, and to continuously improve the competitiveness of the North American beef sector.

In conclusion, our message is simple. We call on members from all parties to facilitate the timely ratification of CUSMA. Please pass Bill C-4 and bring CUSMA into force so that cattle feeders can capture the economic and competitive benefits as soon as possible

Thank you.

[Michel Daigle]

NCFA represents Canadian cattle feeders on national issues and

Les Producteurs de bovins du Québec also belongs to the association.

NCFA works in collaboration with stakeholders and government to strengthen and improve the cattle feeding sector. Through NCFA, Canada's cattle feeders speak with a unified voice. NCFA is a business-oriented organization focused on growth and sustainability, competitiveness and industry leadership. We work to create a business and trade environment that is conducive to the growth and sustainability of cattle feeding, focusing on enhanced access to existing export markets and the opening of new markets.

We support a regulatory system that better positions our industry for future growth and prosperity. The National Cattle Feeders' Association is a member of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and has a strong partnership with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, both of which appeared before this committee last week on Bill C-4.

Agriculture and agri-food in Canada is a $100-billion industry that employs over two million Canadians. Both the Barton report and the agri-food economic strategy table identify agriculture and agri-food as a high-growth economic sector with significant potential to increase its contribution to the Canadian economy. However, to do so, we need to proactively harness opportunities such as CUSMA.

Canada produces some of the most affordable, nutritious and safest beef in the world. The Canadian beef industry represents farm cash receipts totalling $9.4 billion annually, contributing $18 billion to the GDP annually. The Canadian beef industry generates an estimated 228,000 jobs in Canada, with every job in the sector yielding another 3.56 jobs elsewhere in the economy.

In Canada, there are approximately 82,665 Canadian farms, ranches and feedlots.

[Michel Daigle, Chair, National Cattle Feeders' Association]

On behalf of the National Cattle Feeders' Association, we thank the committee for the opportunity to speak to Bill C-4.

To begin, the National Cattle Feeders' Association supports the swift ratification of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, and calls upon all MPs to ensure the quick passage of Bill C-4.

My name is Michel Daigle and I am the chairman of the National Cattle Feeders' Association. I've lived and farmed in Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot, Quebec for 43 years now. Sainte-Hélène is a small community near Saint-Hyacinthe. I'm in a partnership with my two sons, and we seed and harvest over 3,000 acres. We operate a feedlot of 2,300 cattle one-time capacity and market 4,000 fed cattle every year. On the farm my older son operates a cow-calf operation of 100 head, so I know what I'm talking about to you tonight.

[Rick White]

Yes, that's excellent.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee on your study of Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, also known as CUSMA.

It is a pleasure to appear today on behalf of Canada's 43,000 canola farmers. My name, of course, is Rick White, and I am the president and CEO of the Canadian Canola Growers Association.

Thank you for accommodating my presentation through teleconference from Winnipeg, where CCGA's head office is located. I am also joined in your room by Dave Carey. He's our vice-president of government and industry relations based in Ottawa.

Canola farmers support CUSMA and encourage the government to complete the parliamentary process quickly. Canada's ratification will provide a strong signal to our trading partners of the importance of this agreement and reinstate predictability and certainty in the North American marketplace for Canadian farmers.

CCGA represents canola farmers from Ontario to British Columbia on national and international issues, policies and programs that impact their farms' success. Developed in Canada, canola is a staple of Canadian agriculture as well as Canadian science and innovation. Today it is Canada's most widely seeded crop and is the largest farm cash receipt of any agricultural commodity, earning Canadian farmers over $9.3 billion in 2018. Annually, the canola sector provides $26.7 billion to the Canadian economy and provides for 250,000 jobs.

With 90% of canola exported as seed, oil or meal, free trade and access to international markets are key success factors for our farmers' continued prosperity. Free trade agreements such as CUSMA preserve and provide predictable markets and rules of trade in which to sell and grow our sector. In an environment of growing protectionism, it is even more important for Canada to support open markets and enable trade.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has served canola farmers well. Since its implementation 26 years ago, canola sales to our southern neighbours have grown significantly and have directly contributed to the growth and development of the canola sector here in Canada. Today the U.S. is our number one market, and Mexico is our fourth. In 2019, Canada sold 3.5 billion dollars' worth of canola products to the United States, which represents 5.6 million tonnes of seed, oil and meal. Ten years ago, our sales were $1.6 billion, so canola has more than doubled in value over the last decade.

Importantly, the U.S. is a critical market for canola value-added products. The U.S. purchases over 50% of our oil exports and 75% of our meal exports. The economic activity generated from processing seed in Canada and exporting oil and meal is an integral part of canola's contribution to the Canadian economy. Furthermore, many of these processors are in rural Canada, close to canola production. The value-added activity supports local communities, sustains rural employment and provides sales opportunities for canola producers outside the traditional elevator system.

CUSMA builds on and strengthens the NAFTA. CCGA advanced three priorities prior to and throughout the negotiations that are largely met with CUSMA.

Our primary objective was to preserve NAFTA concessions and maintain market access into the United States and Mexico. Under NAFTA and continued under CUSMA, exports of canola seed, oil and meal remain duty-free and will continue to face little in the way of trade barriers. This provides long-term predictability and restores certainty to our trade and business relationships.

Our second objective was to streamline and align regulatory practices between NAFTA partners. CUSMA adds a new section on agricultural biotechnology, including the new generation of plant breeding techniques, recognizing the importance of innovation for North American agriculture. It confirms existing procedures and builds on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, covering trade facilitation measures, instances of low-level presence and the creation of a working group for co-operation on agricultural biotechnology.

Our third objective was to seek improvements for further processed canola products, such as margarine and shortening. CUSMA modernizes the rules of origin, improving access for margarine products of which canola or soy are primary ingredients. Making the vegetable oil market more competitive should generate additional value-added activities here in Canada and capture more economic activity domestically. lt is unfortunate that we did not achieve the same outcome for shortening as the market is significantly larger.

While I appreciate today's testimony is focused on Bill C-4, the last year has been a challenging one for farmers. The loss of the China market for canola seed, various rail challenges, adverse weather and geopolitical and macro forces out of farmers' control have created significant uncertainty and risk at the farm level. Farmers are again making 2020 production decisions with limited certainty and knowledge of demand, price and available sales opportunities.

While CUSMA restores certainty in North America, reopening the China market to canola seed, meaningful changes to government business risk management programs, and biofuel market diversification are also required to assist farmers to manage the current and any future trade disruption. The current risk management programs, most notably agri-stability, falls short in addressing farm financial losses, and significant enhancements are required to make it work for farmers. Additionally, a clear requirement in the clean fuel standard that all diesel fuel consumed in Canada contain a minimum 5% renewable content would create greenhouse gas reductions and increase domestic demand for canola seed by an additional 1.3 million tonnes to 2.3 million tonnes.

In conclusion, NAFTA was critical to the development and success of the Canadian canola industry, and its modernization through CUSMA provides a platform to further stimulate growth in our sector and in the larger economy. As such, I have one parting comment. CCGA respectfully urges parliamentarians from both Houses to complete the necessary review and swiftly pass Bill C-4 into law.

I look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call the meeting back to order.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, February 6, we are examining Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States. This week, we are continuing to hear witnesses and get comments on how important this is and whether there's anything more that needs to be added as we move forward.

I'll introduce the witnesses.

By video conference, we have from the Canadian Canola Growers Association, Rick White, president and chief executive officer. Welcome. We appreciate having you here. We understand that we have the video conference system only until eight o'clock, so we'll make sure to get questions to you before that.

From Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited, we have Rosemary MacLellan, vice-president, strategy and industry affairs.

From the National Cattle Feeders' Association, we have Janice Tranberg, president and chief executive officer, and Michel Daigle, chair.

Welcome to all of you.

We'll start with you, Mr. White, if you'd like to give some opening comments.

[Michael Powell, Director, Government Relations, Canadian Electricity Association]

Madam Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of Bill C-4 and CUSMA and how it helps Canada in the North American integrated electricity grid.

CEA is the national voice of electricity. Our members operate in every province and territory in Canada and include generation, transmission and distribution companies, as well as technology and service providers from across the country.

Our electricity sector employs 81,000 Canadians and contributes $30 billion to Canada's GDP. Indirectly, our sector supports essentially every job in Canada, as electricity is the foundation of the modern economy.

Electricity is at the heart of Canada's transition to a low-carbon economy. More than 80% of Canada's generation is already non-emitting, making it one of the cleanest grids in the world. In fact, the Canadian electricity sector has already reduced GHG emissions by 30% since 2005.

Electricity will play an essential role as Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy.

[Isabelle Des Chênes, Executive Vice-President, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's an honour to appear before the committee today.

The trading relationship that Canada has with the United States and Mexico is a key pillar of our economy. The Canada, U.S. and Mexico trade agreement represents a step forward in that relationship and the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada and its members support its ratification with the passage of Bill C-4.

Canada's chemistry industry is a vital component of our economy and is the fourth-largest manufacturing sector, at just over $58 billion in annual shipments. Ours is also a very highly skilled industry. More than 38% of our nearly 90,000 employees are university graduates, second only to the IT sector. These highly skilled employees are well paid with an annual average salary of $80,000. The chemistry industry also supports an additional 525,000 Canadians in indirect jobs. While few people give thought to the role of chemistry in the economy, more than 95% of all manufactured goods are directly touched by the business of chemistry. This includes key sectors of the Canadian economy, such as transportation, agri-food, natural resources and, of course, the municipal entities through water and sewage treatment.

In my brief time with you today, I want to share a few key points on behalf of Canada's chemistry sector. First, free trade has been an unquestionable benefit for our chemistry sector and nowhere is that more prevalent than here in North America. Canada's chemistry sector is highly integrated into international trade flows. Our industry exports nearly $40 billion of chemical products each year, second only to transportation equipment providers in the manufacturing space. On the other hand, we import just under $60 billion from other nations. Taken together, the chemistry sector trades around 100 billion dollars' worth of products each year.

With respect to our North American neighbours, approximately 76% of our exports and 58% of our imported chemical products come from the United States and Mexico, equating to over 65 billion dollars' worth of trade annually. Our members have offices and production facilities across Canada, including in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Every single day these facilities trade hundreds of millions of dollars of products with our American and Mexican neighbours. Every day they send hundreds of train cars from Fort Saskatchewan, Sarnia and Bécancour to facilities in Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Mexico City. In return, these U.S. and Mexican companies send hundreds of cars back, picking up new products in Guadalajara, Louisiana, New Jersey and Washington along the way, and sending them to manufacturers in Red Deer, Toronto and Montreal. Thousands of trucks and train cars cross our three borders each day in a highly efficient and integrated manner. All of this has been possible through free trade.

My second point is that once it became clear that a renegotiation of NAFTA was imminent, CIAC wasted no time in articulating clear and concise priorities that would preserve and modernize North American trade. While it was important for us to maintain tariff-free access for chemical products into the U.S. and Mexico, we wanted to use this once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize key aspects of the North American trade framework. Addressing non-tariff issues through free trade negotiations is a constructive way to ensure a common approach among trade partners, vital to a knowledge-based economy. This means finding new ways to strengthen government-to-government co-operation, avoiding duplication and enhancing regulatory cohesion among trade partners. Just as important as enhancing the free flow and security of goods, the flow of ideas and information helps to strengthen our supply trains, improve our businesses and improve business certainty. Modern trade agreements go far beyond tariffs and it is crucial that these agreements evolve with the economy.

In a unique step, we collaborated with our sister associations in the United States and Mexico to offer tripartite recommendations to our respective negotiating teams on modernizations to the areas of rules of origin and regulatory co-operation. These two areas are uniquely critical for the trade of chemical products.

CUSMA preserves and enhances the trilateral trade of chemistry products in North America. It prevents new tariffs from being applied to chemical products, modernizes rules of origin by offering companies a clear menu of options for documenting the origin of their products, enhances regulatory co-operation with a sectoral annex intended to facilitate cross-border information and burden sharing to protect human health and environmental health, and strengthens Canada's world-leading risk management approach to chemicals management. Finally, it facilitates digital trade by ensuring that industry data can flow freely and securely across borders.

The chemistry sector has evolved significantly since the original NAFTA was adopted. Today, tens of billions of dollars' worth of chemical products are traded across our borders. CUSMA will provide for tariff-free trade of chemical products. It modernizes key areas vital to a knowledge-based 21st century economy and it strengthens Canada's risk-based approach to chemicals management.

Finally, we'd like to thank the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland for their extensive engagement on the file. We can't say enough about Canada's negotiating team at Global Affairs Canada. They proved that despite the tense rhetoric, you can achieve win-win-win outcomes. I'd also like to note the high degree of participation from the provinces as well.

In the interest of time, I will leave it at that and welcome your questions.