Evidence of meeting #32 for Canada-China Relations in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was trade.
A video is available from Parliament.
9:05 p.m.
Distinguished Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, As an Individual
Thank you very much.
Canada is a services economy. We focus way too much on goods and have such expertise. We have amazing financial services firms, life insurance and so on, which are very active in Asia.
From my studies on Canadians in Asia, in terms of companies and software analytics, we have many great tech companies that are very active there. Let's support them. Let's continue to work in the north Pacific, Japan and Korea. That will give us additional balance, power and leverage in Asia. We can't do it alone.
9:05 p.m.
Director, Balsillie School of International Affairs
Thank you very much.
I'll just repeat that we do better when we know better. If we are going to de-risk and decouple, which are necessary for implementing our Indo-Pacific strategy, we need to focus at home as well as abroad. At home, a national capacity-building effort to operate in an intangibles market is absolutely fundamental. Approximately 92% of the S&P 500 at the moment accounts for intangibles. That's how much we're in that marketplace.
Lastly, good strategies have specific objectives because you can't manage what you cannot measure. Good strategies also build and bolster existing strengths. Two of Canada's existing strengths are the higher education system and our military, defence and science diplomacy capacity. I would encourage the committee to look at continuing to bolster these strengths.
Thank you.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
We would like to thank our panellists. It's been a fascinating session.
We will adjourn for just a moment to give the panellists a chance to make their way out. Then we'll go into our business session right after that.
We'll suspend for a moment.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
We'll head back into session.
I think the first order of business for this section of our meeting is the work plan.
We just finished meeting three. We could have as many as seven total meetings. The material distributed over the last day or so has a lot of information on what could possibly comprise those meetings. We know that on February 12, a week from now, we'll have the Ambassador of Japan, the Indo-Pacific enterprise groups and so on.
This is just a temperature check to make sure that in the meetings to come, we have the potential to get answers to the questions we need answered in order to develop a worthwhile and useful report.
Are there any comments on the work plan? Are we good for seven meetings total?
9:10 p.m.
Conservative
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
Okay.
Ms. McPherson, I think you want to talk, potentially, about travel. Did you have something there? I caught your question a little earlier and so did Mr. Bergeron, as I recall.
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I just like to entertain Mr. Bergeron. That's mostly why I'm here.
9:10 p.m.
An hon. member
Oh, oh!
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Well, I know the deadline is coming up. I don't know if there's any potential for that. Is there?
Are we in camera?
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Oh, I'm sorry. Well, then I will stop looking accusingly at certain members of our committee.
I think it would be fantastic if—
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Is our business meeting normally in public? I thought we always did business meetings in camera.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
We do them in camera when we're talking about reviewing draft studies. This is basically lining up what's coming up next.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
I would ask that in the future, our business meetings are in camera. That's been the tradition of our committees everywhere, because we get into discussions like that. I think it's a dangerous precedent.
Business meetings should be in camera. That allows us to have discussions like this more easily.
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
If I can reiterate, I think it would be very useful for the committee to travel. There is value in parliamentary diplomacy. That was made clear by our panellists this evening. It is an important role that parliamentarians play in the region, particularly as we continue to try to develop more relationships in that area.
I would like us to put a proposal forward, if that seems at all worth the clerk's and analysts' efforts at this time.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Since we are not in camera, I think it would be handy for us to go around the table to see which parties are interested in preparing travel and whether or not party whips would be engaged in allowing us, as an international committee, to travel.
On our side of the table, the Liberal Party would be very pleased to try to work up a travel plan, because we think it's essential for members of Parliament to travel. It's even more essential for committees like this to travel.
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
All right.
We'll start from that end of that side of the table and go toward this end.
Go ahead, Ms. McPherson.
9:15 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I think I've made it very clear. This is a key role for this committee. Parliamentary diplomacy is a key thing we can offer.
The New Democrats would be very supportive of travel to the region.
