Evidence of meeting #42 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 canola.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
All right. That's very good.
We will wrap up, then, with Mr. Bergeron for two and a half minutes and with Ms. McPherson for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to give Mr. Lansbergen an opportunity to answer the question about products that are less popular in the west but can find a market in the east.
President, Fisheries Council of Canada
Yes, we do have a variety of different products—for example, clams, whether they be Arctic surf clams in the east or geoducks in the west. We need to have more promotions of those products so that Canadians can taste the great seafood that we have across all of the different species.
We had a national marketing campaign over the last two years to promote the variety of species. The website is still live. It's chooseseafood.ca. “Smarter Meals Out of the Blue” is the tag line. We profiled a number of different species to Canadians, largely millennials in large urban centres because that allowed us to get the most efficiency with the dollars we had available.
Bloc
President, Fisheries Council of Canada
In Asia, certainly the new office is a great start, as well as the offices from EDC that will help exporters facilitate some of the shipments. We have the federal government and the provinces participating in trade missions.
I think we need federal and provincial elected officials to also go to these trade missions and trade shows. In Boston, back in March, we had three federal ministers, four premiers and their fisheries ministers, and a fifth fisheries minister all present at the Boston seafood show, which is for North America. If we could get even a part of that representation at Asian trade shows, then I think that would be helpful as well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
Thank you, Mr. Lansbergen.
As a side note, this committee will discuss, in fact, in the fullness of time, perhaps a bit of travel to some of the locations in which we're attempting to build markets. We will be talking about that in the future, I'm sure—in the not too distant future, in fact.
To wrap us up, we'll go to Ms. McPherson for our final two and a half minutes.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses, one more time, for being here.
Mr. Fulton, is there anything that you would like to see in the final report from this committee on the Indo-Pacific strategy?
I'll just go through all of the witnesses.
Vice President, Canadian Cattle Association
Specifically, with respect to any future trade agreements, it's a focus on science- and rules-based trade, as I've referenced before. It's critical to ensure quality for industry.
NDP
President, Fisheries Council of Canada
We have a good start with the Indo-Pacific strategy. We need to continue implementing it and make sure it's long term. Five years isn't enough.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
There should probably be more investment in that, too. Thank you.
Ms. Joseph
Chair, Energy For A Secure Future
I think LNG needs to be integrated as a priority into how Canada wants to engage in the Indo-Pacific. On the emissions side, there are lots of opportunities for us to work either within mechanisms like article 6 of the Paris Agreement or bilaterally with some of those Asian partners on how those emissions and those emissions reductions are recognized. All of that is part of a full picture that can be the LNG value proposition.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Certainly, we need to recognize that the world needs climate action. That's probably a good place to end today.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken Hardie
Thank you, Ms. McPherson, and thank you to our panellists. We've actually had a very full meeting. It's amazing how fast three hours can go.
I'd like to thank our clerk, our analysts, our interpreters and all our support staff for making this a very interesting evening.
The meeting is adjourned.