Finance Committee on Oct. 26th, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Mr. Kariya, very briefly, if you can.

[Paul Kariya]

I'd reiterate that we need a mix of fuels going forward, and that for some of the more polluting fuels, if you will, we need a transition strategy. We also need to increase our R and D in terms of cleaner technology. I think Canada is and can be a leader in this area, and it's exportable.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Brison.

We'll go to Mr. Adler, please.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I thank all the witnesses for appearing here today.

I'd like to direct my questions to the two mining associations first. I saw a report last night on the news on Peace River and how the demand for jobs there is just going through the roof; they cannot keep up with the number of people needed to fill positions. Free trade agreements such as China and India are on the horizon, and the demand from Asia—as you all indicated—is astronomical. Could you comment on the Peace River situation and how that's indicative of the whole mining sector?

[Karina Briño]

Thanks for the question. I assume you're talking about Peace River Coal.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Coal, yes.

[Karina Briño]

I have not seen that specific report. However, it is a factor that affects the industry in British Columbia and in Canada as a whole. The lack of skilled workers, from entry-level jobs to professional designations—as you said—is astronomical, as much as the demand.

There are several initiatives, both at the national and the provincial levels, to address some of those issues, but it does require a very strong strategic approach at all levels of government, including the industry. The industry is making a lot of progress in terms of recruiting and attempts to attract foreign workers. However, we have people in Canada—in British Columbia—who are not employed, and we need to provide the programs and services that are going to allow us to recruit and employ people at a local level as well, because that's going to improve the health of our communities. So that specific issue in the northeast is of great concern to us.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Is that indicative of a lot of different communities?

[Karina Briño]

Yes.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Yes, that's what I thought.

The expansion of the METC that's contained in the nine free trade agreements that have been negotiated since 2006, which my friends opposite have all opposed—

[An hon. member]

That's not true.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Could you comment on how government policies have helped push that along?

[Pierre Gratton]

I was asked by the Minister of International Trade a month or so ago about the European free trade agreement and what was most important to us. Because there's already a free flow of goods between Europe and Canada, the issue was labour mobility, being able to tap into another pool of workers if we don't have some of the skills for jobs here, and vice-versa. I mean, we have Canadians who can go and work in Europe.

We are big proponents of free trade as a sector and we strongly support the efforts by the government to conclude free trade agreements with Honduras and Colombia. Latin America is a hugely important market and progress with China and India is also important.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

So your industry would reject an increase in corporate taxes. A carbon tax would not be a good thing for your industry, would it?

[Pierre Gratton]

I don't know if any industry sector would say that it would like to have higher taxes. We wouldn't be in that category either. I wouldn't say you couldn't put a price on carbon into the tax regime in some way, but if you do it, you have to make sure it's done in a way that doesn't indirectly undermine the competitiveness of Canadian business.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Right, it would come at a cost.

[Pierre Gratton]

You have to balance it through other elements of the tax system.

British Columbia has tried it, and it hasn't been an outright failure, but it could be further refined.

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Krusel, could you comment on the free trade agreements that our government has negotiated, the potential for the future, and how this would benefit the port authority?

[Don Krusel]

All I can say is that I think a greater focus needs to be on free trade agreements with the Asia Pacific. I was going to say that the economic centre of the world economy is gravitating to Asia, but actually, it's there already.

For decades we have been at the doorstep of the U.S. economy. Well, we are at the doorstep of the Asian economy on the west coast. There's a body of water that separates us, but that's where the ports come in. There is a huge potential. We as a nation need to focus more on the Asia Pacific.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you, Mr. Adler.

We'll go to Mr. Marston.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll try not to poke anybody in the eye on the other side in my round, but I want to talk about one thing. The federal government is continually asked to invest in a variety of things like training, which is crucial to get people out of poverty. In my home town of Hamilton, one in five people live in poverty. We had value-added manufacturing in Hamilton, but we lost 50,000 jobs from 1988 to 1992, thanks to the free trade agreement.

As for taxes, our friends like to point to our wanting to raise taxes, but in the year 2000, the corporate tax rate was 38% and for the Americans it was 36%. Mr. Martin dropped it to 20%. Our concern is the drop from 20% to 15%, and the $16 billion it takes out of the coffers of the government to do the things that are needed in our country. That is where there's a serious problem.

We were just in the Yukon. Their population is low, but their infrastructure dates back to the 1950s. How do we address these things if we do not have some kind of strategy?

We've been calling all along, as these tax breaks occur each year, to stop at a certain level. The taxes wouldn't have been increased; they would have remained where they were. So there are mixed messages coming out.

What's the state of the infrastructure here in B.C., particularly northern B.C.?

[Paul Kariya]

When you say infrastructure—

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I mean hydro transmission, broadband, and things of that nature.

[Paul Kariya]

There certainly needs to be an upgrade. If we're going to fuel the industrial development that we've all spoken of in northern B.C.—the electrification, the transmission network—it needs to be strengthened. There is a role for both federal and provincial funding and participation. We have a good example of co-operation with the northwest transmission, where you have the private sector and public sector involved.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Your green bond suggestion sounds interesting and worthy of consideration.

We've been calling for a manufacturing strategy as well as an environmental strategy. Coming from the industrial heartland, I think it's a good idea. We haven't seen that to date. We have all the talks about taxes, as if taxes and free trade agreements are going to settle it all, but they won't. We have to assist our companies. This might shock some people over here, but we have to assist companies in that kind of investment. We're not going to be able to meet world demand at the rate we're going unless we have a vision that's supported by our federal government. I wouldn't mind your comments on that.