Foreign Affairs Committee on April 23rd, 2026

[Jason Groleau, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Ambassador, with respect to your mandate, in Canada all 343 members of Parliament support supply management. In the past, you've been against supply management. We are currently in the middle of negotiations with the United States. Just yesterday, the U.S. government was again talking about the fact that Americans want access to the Canadian market.

Will you defend us?

[Mark Wiseman]

My job is to defend, to the best of my abilities, day in and day out, the policies of the Government of Canada, and I will continue to do so.

[Jason Groleau, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

The position of all members of Parliament is this: We want to defend supply management.

I'll ask you again.

Is that the government's position? Do you have the mandate to defend that position?

[Mark Wiseman]

Yes.

[Jason Groleau, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you very much for your answer.

I'm from Beauce, a region that borders the United States. We do a lot of business with the United States. As you know, there's a great deal of trade with the Americans in the steel and forestry sectors.

For several months now, there have been huge tariffs that have been hurting us.

We have the impression that you are deliberately not moving quickly to resolve this issue. Is that just an impression? I am asking the question because you are telling the people of Beauce and businesses that you haven't negotiated with the Americans for five months.

[Mark Wiseman]

The Government of Canada and I, as a representative in Washington, understand the tremendous strain and hardship that the 232 tariffs are putting on a number of Canadian industries and a number, therefore, of Canadian communities. We believe that these tariffs are unjustified. We believe they are outside the bounds of the agreements that we have in place with the United States of America, and we are working very hard and aggressively to try to reverse the impact of those 232 tariffs.

[Jason Groleau, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Wiseman.

[Mark Wiseman]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

You still have 36 seconds.

[Jason Groleau, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Wiseman, you said you're going to work hard. What is your strategy in the coming days and weeks to advance negotiations with the Americans?

[Mark Wiseman]

One of our strategies is to meet and influence as many important people in the United States as possible, and that includes members of Congress. We've seen dozens of them, even in the first few weeks that I've been on the job. It means members of industry. It means labour leaders in the United States, and it means, importantly, getting out to state legislators as well. I've already, in my short time, met somewhere in the neighbourhood of a dozen governors across the United States.

We have to keep putting on the pressure day in and day out. As I said earlier, it's important to understand that we think of the United States every morning when we wake up. They don't necessarily think of us. We have to remind them of the importance to the United States that the relationship with Canada represents.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

We'll go next to MP Marie-France Lalonde.

You have five minutes.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Wiseman, congratulations on your new role. My colleagues and I were noting that you've only been in the position for a few weeks. I am confident that your experience will bear fruit.

The Prime Minister recently announced the creation of a new committee, the Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations. On the Canadian side, a number of sectors contribute their expertise.

I'd like to hear your comments on the collaboration you have or are going to have with the Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations.

[Mark Wiseman]

The new advisory committee—which was announced on Tuesday, I believe—will be chaired by Minister LeBlanc. It will provide advice and guidance to our chief negotiator and, by extension, provide help and guidance to me.

We are in a difficult situation with the United States. We should not deny the difficulty of the situation we're in. As a result of the unjustified section 232 tariffs, Canadian businesses, communities and workers are all facing hardships. We need, quite frankly, all the help and advice we can get. I believe the Prime Minister's announced advisory committee on Canada-U.S. economic relations, broadly, will help support us with the information and advice we need from a wide array of viewpoints, industries and regions across Canada in order to help us make better decisions.

As I said earlier, I feel I am very supported in my role as part of the team responsible for advancing Canada's cause with the United States. I think this new advisory committee will provide even more support, guidance and, at times, diversity of views to ensure that, as we develop our negotiating strategy and positions, we are doing so with as much information and input as we can possibly have.

Through my experience as an investor, I believe having more information and analysis allows one to make better decisions, so we need to gather as much information, opinion and analysis, and as many views, as we can. I believe this committee is in furtherance of that.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much for your comments.

Indeed, we can see that there are representatives from a number of sectors within the Canadian economy, as well as from the political sphere and the labour movement. I was therefore also very pleased to see those choices.

I'll continue along the same lines.

You spoke about your investment experience in your most recent roles.

I would like to hear your comments on Canada's key strengths that you intend to highlight personally in trade discussions in your new role as ambassador.

[Mark Wiseman]

Canada is in a very fortunate position. In many respects—and the Prime Minister has said this—we have what the world wants and needs today, be it energy, critical minerals or agriculture, and we have an incredibly talented and well-educated population. We are the envy of the world, in many respects. What is unfortunately happening in the world far away from us is making our strengths come even more to the fore.

We are in a stronger—and perhaps increasingly strong—position because of the benefits Canada has. I think about benefits in terms of either nature or nurture. We have nature by way of our natural resources and the geography that we benefit from, and we have nurture by having human capital and policies that allow us to appropriately exploit those resources for our benefit. Canada is in an incredible position today.

I have to say that being the ambassador for Canada to the United States is not an easy job in today's world, but I wouldn't choose any other country to be the ambassador of to the United States. We are in a position of strength as a country, and if we can harness both natural and developed advantages, we are going to be in a very good position in our relationship with the United States and with the world in the decades ahead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Wiseman.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

We are starting our fourth round with MP Kyle Seeback.

You have five minutes.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Ambassador, thank you so much for being here. I want to take the time to thank you for your service to Canada. It's a very important role. Canadians are depending on you and others.

I want to talk about the section 232 tariffs. Could you confine your comments to that? When was the last formal negotiation meeting where positions were exchanged with respect to the section 232 tariffs between Canada and the United States? Just give me the date.

[Mark Wiseman]

I don't think I should be speaking here about specific meetings that have taken place, but I can tell you that there are ongoing discussions on almost a daily basis.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Ambassador, I know you've had ongoing discussions. The minister says this all the time: I'm having conversations. We're having a conversation right now. It's not resolving anything, and I don't think it's a confidential secret when the last actual negotiation took place.

We all know that former prime minister Trudeau flew down to Mar-a-Lago to have a negotiation. I don't know why you're keeping this so secret. It's widely reported in the media that the last formal negotiation took place about seven months ago, where offers were exchanged. Is that accurate or inaccurate? If it's inaccurate, when was there actually another formal meeting?

[Mark Wiseman]

We're having ongoing negotiations and discussions with the United States. The one thing I will say—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Ambassador, I'm sorry. Of course, you're having ongoing discussions. If you weren't, you wouldn't be doing your job. When the Prime Minister appointed you, he said you were a core member of the negotiating team. If you weren't having negotiations, you wouldn't be fulfilling your mandate. That's not my question.

I want to take you back. My question is this: When was the last formal round of negotiations where offers were exchanged to remove the section 232 tariffs?

[Mark Wiseman]

Again, we are having ongoing discussions. What I will say is that in my career as a business leader, an investor and a deal-maker, I've never done a deal on the front pages of the newspaper that has been successful, and I think our—