Canada-China Relations Committee on Nov. 1st, 2022

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

You spoke about our relations and the fact that Japan has an important role to play in that. You spoke about how Japan has taken a sort of leadership role on this. What other countries should we be predominantly working with to continue that work, in addition to Japan, of course?

[Dr. Scott Simon]

I think there are other countries in the area where we have a large diaspora—for example, the Philippines and Vietnam. I think those countries should be priorities.

Another area where we have a special role to play would be in Oceania. Because of our French and English heritage, we can communicate with the people in those countries.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Do you have any other comments before we conclude this evening?

[Dr. Scott Simon]

No. Thank you very much. I think it's very important to recognize that we already have a relationship with Taiwan that's independent of our relationship with the People's Republic of China, and we have to keep working with that in mind.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thanks for coming today and sharing all of these perspectives with us.

[Dr. Scott Simon]

Thank you.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, that's all for me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Thank you, Ms. McPherson.

Dr. Simon, thank you very much for attending this evening. It's getting late, and we appreciate your time very much.

We will now pause, and for people on Zoom, there's a link being sent right now. We will be back in a couple of minutes for a brief in camera session.

Yes, Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have a point of order. At the beginning of the meeting, our witness, Dr. Medeiros, was supposed to appear but couldn't. It seems there was a miscommunication between the technicians who tested his equipment earlier and what was required for this committee. I just want to make sure that the inconsistency is not there next time so we don't have to deny a witness their time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Yes, in that respect, Mr. Chong, we were pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable audio from Dr. Medeiros. We did a test early. It was marginal, but we consulted with our interpreters and decided, especially given the risks they are facing, that it would be better to ensure that Dr. Medeiros had the proper gear. We'll invite him back.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Can I just make a suggestion? We should make it the default rule for all witnesses that they have the proper gear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

It is the default rule. Again, given some difficulties we spoke about before with getting witnesses to appear at our committee at this time of the day, we thought we could do it, but at the end of the day, we could not, which is why Dr. Simon had to carry the panel all by himself.

I appreciate your intervention on that. I think our lesson is learned that without the proper gear, the person will not attend.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

We will take a break, and we'll be back in camera in just a moment.

[Proceedings continue in camera]