Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States Committee on March 4th, 2021

[Kirsten Hillman]

I will just say that there are a lot of gas pedals, so it is absolutely, 100%. Again, not to be a broken record about this, but we are in a general way, and have been for many months, reaching out here in Washington—as are, obviously colleagues in Ottawa—to the new administration, to Congress, to the business community, and to labour leaders, all of whom are supportive of our view that in an economic recovery, especially the one we've just experienced with supply chain challenges, we need to be doubling down on our integration and our mutual support for each other. We have allies across all sorts of different constituencies here in the United States, and we are working those phones all the time.

That is one thing. It has been raised in every ministerial contact that has taken place so far. Even in portfolios where there is maybe less obvious inclination, it is a core priority for Canada, and therefore it is raised.

I think the work will continue, because the infrastructure bill, as you rightly point out, isn't in place yet, but we have had incredibly candid conversations right up to the very top about this particular policy and what it potentially could mean and the challenges that it could pose for both of our countries—not just for us but for them as well. I think those voices are being heard.

I would like to point out one thing. The speed with which this administration reached out to us to start talking to us was incredible. I had the honour of attending the inauguration, and for those of you who have been here, you'll know that the embassy is just down the street from the Capitol, and I hope the rest of you will be able to come once this is behind us. Before I was even back in my office, senior members of the White House were phoning to make contact and talk about what Canada's core priorities were. In that discussion our energy relationship, energy infrastructure, buy American, softwood lumber— all of those issues—were raised on day one of this administration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Raj Saini]

Thank you, Ms. Bendayan. That ends our rounds of questions.

I hope, Ambassador, you will indulge me for one short question. I know it's been a long day. It's a practical question and it's a philosophical question. My colleague, Mr. Housefather, raised the practicality of the issue of the debate that's happening within Michigan in terms of who actually regulates the pipeline, whether it is the Department of Natural Resources or the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. That's one aspect we can't really comment on.

The other aspect is whether the federal engagement is at the executive level or the ministerial level. We also know that we have very close business links, so I'm sure there are a lot of business ties.

I also say this because I was a student in the United States for three years, in Boston. I also appreciate the people-to-people ties. When we were negotiating NAFTA, when we took that whole-of-government approach, we included civil society, business, culture and obviously the diplomatic and government step.

What are we doing to encourage the closeness, especially with the new administration, especially given the fact that a lot of us have friends and relatives in the United States? Is there a place for civil society going forward?

[Kirsten Hillman]

Yes, I think there always is.

Something that's been pretty obvious to me since I've been here is that the Canada-U.S. relationship is broad. There are literally millions of interactions between Canadians and Americans every day, from business to families to academics to—in other times—tourists. There's [Technical difficulty—Editor]. The ability of someone like me to do my job, or people like you to do your job as it relates to Canada-U.S. affairs, rests on the shoulders of those millions of interactions, because it's those interactions that create that sort of fibre and create the understanding of our two countries and the importance of one to the other.

Something that I think has been very interesting to me over the last couple of several weeks since this administration has come in—and I think you can see it if you look at that road map— is that in our discussions with the Americans we operate far less like we would operate with any other country. In other words, it's not fundamentally a discussion of foreign relations when we're talking to each other, because the things that really matter to us in our relationship with the Americans are much more domestic issues.

As we've been talking about today, they are issues like energy infrastructure; supply chains; borders; people wanting to move back and forth; aligning our climate policies and regulations; aligning our transportation regulations; and, making sure that when we're making large infrastructure spends, we're sharing them with each other. These are much more focused, and I haven't even gone into law enforcement. That's a whole other area where we and our law enforcement agencies work together every single day.

On our relationship, I think it was Condoleezza Rice, if I'm not mistaken, who said that in Canada and the U.S., we talk about condo issues. It's like we share a condo together, and the things we work on together have to do with the fact that we live in the same space. Most of the time, that's great, and sometimes it's not, when they don't shovel their walk or when they don't fix a leaky roof, or we don't. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's more challenging. It's a relationship of a very different nature than most relationships with foreign governments, and it's because of all of the people-to-people ties.

[The Chair, Liberal, Raj Saini]

Thank you very much, Ambassador Hillman. I know that I share the sentiment of millions of Canadians in wishing you the best of luck as you navigate the new administration. I know that you will perform as well as you have always performed.

On behalf of the committee, I want to thank you for taking this time and sharing your thoughts with us. We are deeply appreciative for the insights you brought, the sorts of insights we don't normally get in the press, the insights from your negotiations, and for the stories and anecdotes that really show us how closely we are aligned as two nations and, going forward, how much more alignment is possible in these shared challenges we face.

On behalf of all my colleagues, thank you very much. We wish you the best of luck.

[Kirsten Hillman]

Thank you very much, and thank you for having me.

Thank you for sharing with me what's important to you and your constituents, because it's obviously essential for me and my whole team to make sure that we are very up to date with what you're thinking about and what you're working on. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Raj Saini]

Thank you.

I have one more reminder for my colleagues. The witness list is due tomorrow at 4 p.m. If you could prioritize that and send that to the clerk, it would be great.

Thank you very much, everybody. Have a good evening.