Foreign Affairs Committee on June 16th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

Next is MP Michael Chong.

You have five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I'd like to talk a little about Canada-U.S. relations.

Mexico has, formally and publicly, announced a table on the review of CUSMA.

When is Canada going to formally start a table to review CUSMA?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

I believe Minister LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, will be meeting shortly with his counterpart, Jamieson Greer, the United States ambassador for trade. It is the work of Minister LeBlanc, as well as our chief negotiator Janice Charette, to ensure that this dialogue is continuing with the United States.

I also want to underline that the CUSMA trade agreement in place has 85% of Canada-U.S. trade continuing to operate and pass through the 49th parallel tariff-free. The work they will do is to continue that co-operation while advocating for those suffering in the sectoral tariff domain, particularly with respect to steel, aluminum, lumber and auto.

As I said, this work is ongoing, and it's extremely important.

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

Can you give us any idea when the tables will be started?

Mexico is currently at formal tables established between Mexico and the United States. Canadians have no idea when formal tables are going to be established and what date they will start on. It's creating a great deal of uncertainty in the business community and among Canadian workers.

Do you have any idea when tables on the review of CUSMA or tables on bilateral irritants such as section 232 tariffs will be established? Do you know the dates?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

As I said, the discussions with the Americans in the formal channels with the chief negotiator and the minister responsible have been ongoing.

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

My question isn't about—

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

The work they will continue to do is to advocate on the 232 tariffs.

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

I understand that.

My question isn't about discussions, phone calls or meetings. My question is this. When are the formal tables going to be established? On what date will they start? If you don't have a precise date, perhaps you could give the committee a sense of what month they're going to start in. Mexico has started formal tables.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm sure my honourable colleague is aware that my purview is different from that of the Minister for Canada-U.S. Trade. It is not unusual for bilateral discussions between different parties to move at a different pace.

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

I understand. We don't have it.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

In the meantime, I will continue to work with Minister LeBlanc and my counterpart in Mexico to build that bilateral relationship.

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

We don't have any guidance about when the tables will be established. That's clear.

I have a question about the overall approach of the Government of Canada as expressed by the Prime Minister and other ministers of the government.

I was interested to read several weeks ago about the government now pushing fortress North America and tighter integration of the Canadian and American economies. This is something the Prime Minister talked about in New York recently. He also talked about Canada strong making America great again. It seems to be a very different approach from the approach of a year ago, when it was about countervailing tit-for-tat. It was about the relationship with the U.S. being over, and so on and so forth.

Can you tell us about the change in approach on bilateral relations and what the thinking behind that is?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

I differ with you to some extent, in that the United States remains Canada's largest trading partner, the most significant market for many businesses, and over 70% of Canadian businesses continue to choose the United States as their first export destination. Geography matters. We're fully cognizant that the reliance and the work that Canadian companies are going to be doing will involve the relationship with the United States. Look at defence, for example. We have a situation in which much of the defence industry is integrated with its U.S. counterparts.

Recognizing that the U.S. remains Canada's largest trading partner, we have to move forward in ways that are co-operative. My work with Secretary Rubio is and will continue to be outside of the trade relationship per se and how we are building our bilateral ties.

In fact, the work we're doing together on the Arctic is one example. I will be travelling to Anchorage this summer to open a Canadian consulate there. I've discussed this with Secretary Rubio. Again, we're on the same page about the need to work together for Arctic security and protection. There is work being done with the Americans.

I will say that we have to be fully cognizant of that relationship overall, in sectors within the trade context and outside it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

MP Fortier, you have five minutes.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, thank you for joining us.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the public service for their work, since it's National Public Service Week. I know that everyone here today works hard, and so do the people at Global Affairs Canada and in other departments.

I would like to talk about Haiti. You spoke about Haiti in your opening remarks. I also want to ask you a quick question about Canada and the francophonie.

As you said, the government has provided over $450 million in ongoing bilateral assistance, humanitarian assistance and multilateral funding. For some time now, under your leadership, the government has been promoting efforts to implement the United Nations‑backed Gang Suppression Force in Haiti. Furthermore, it has demonstrated a commitment to the Haitian people. We want to ensure their security and sovereignty. They want this as well.

I know that you have worked a great deal with allies and contributor countries to promote the troops' efforts and the humanitarian operations. Some of these countries include El Salvador, Chad, Bangladesh, Guatemala and Côte d'Ivoire. You will be attending the General Assembly of the Organization of American States next week in Panama.

Can you talk about the next steps or the steps currently under way?

You're making other efforts to rally allies and to move forward with the Gang Suppression Force in Haiti.

Can you tell us what role Canada plans to play in Haiti's rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

As always, thank you for your hard work. I would also like to thank my colleague, Robert Oliphant.

We'll make sure that we're there for Haiti and for the Haitian people. The instability in Haiti has been going on for a long time. Since 2022, we've invested over $460 million in peace and security in Haiti. We're counting on the interim government to organize elections as soon as possible. This is a critical time. Canada remains ready to support the Haitian people in their return to stability.

Drawing a thread from the last question about working with the United States and how that affects our foreign policy, I will say that Secretary Rubio and I have been working together on gathering international funds for Haiti. This work dates back to last summer, when we began discussion about Canada's support for a UNSC resolution. I met with Secretary Rubio a few times leading up to the UN General Assembly week. Together, we worked on that resolution.

After that was passed, we then continued to advocate within the G7 and beyond for other countries to step up with financial aid for security and stability in Haiti. When I was in Doha, for example, I spoke with the Qataris about supporting Haiti. They came forward with funding. When I was at the G7, I spoke with my counterparts there about supporting Haiti. Germany actually stepped up with funding for Haiti.

This is a moment when, if we wish to continue to see democracy and stability thrive and exist, we need to work together as like-minded countries. It's not just one country; it's regional stability. I'll be travelling to Caricom next week in Panama.

I'll be co‑chairing a meeting, with a number of my counterparts, on regional stability.

The foundation of any economic recovery has to be the stability of institutions within a country. That is very much the centre of the conversation that we will have in Panama next week.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, ON]

You probably won't have time to answer my question. However, could you provide a brief update on Canada's bid to host the 2028 francophonie summit?

It would be held in the national capital region, specifically in my constituency of Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester. I imagine that discussions on this matter are ongoing. We hope that Canada's bid will be successful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Please give a very brief response, Minister. We're out of time.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

I also believe that we must continue our efforts to host the francophonie summit, which would be held here in the national capital region. I would also like to thank you for your efforts. Now is the time for Canada to be on the same page regarding the importance of the francophonie.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

MP Chong, you have five minutes.

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

Thank you, Chair.

I want to go back to trying to understand the government's foreign policy direction. The Prime Minister has recently said two things. I mentioned one thing he mentioned earlier, which was that he supported building fortress North America. More recently, he has said that he believes the next world order will likely be built out of Europe. If the next world order is being built out of Europe and we're in fortress North America, how does that work? In other words, are we seeking closer ties with Europe, or are we building fortress North America? It just seems to me to be incongruous.

Maybe you could explain to our committee where the government is going on all of this.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Sure. I'd love to respond to that. I thank the member for always the constructive conversation.

There is nothing inconsistent with seeking to diversify our trading relationships. That's exactly what is happening here. We have a strong trading relationship with the United States. We need to address sectoral tariffs—the 232s, as you said—and we will continue to do that through the negotiation process, through the dialogue and through the discussions. At the same time, we can diversify trading partners while maintaining existing relationships. Those 20 agreements struck over the past year in security, defence and the economy are extremely important. The work we are doing with the EU, as the only non-EU member of SAFE, is another example of diversification.

The diversification doesn't rest on just those particular points. Let's look at ASEAN. We're looking to conclude an FTA in 2026. Let's look at Mercosur. We're also working to ensure that we have an FTA there. Even last year, we concluded an FTA with Indonesia. Over and above FTAs, it's foreign direct investment. We are having an investment summit here in September. The Prime Minister has received commitments of up to $100 billion in foreign direct investment.

Regarding foreign affairs, in terms of the work we are doing internationally, I've directed our officials to ensure that two-way trade and foreign direct investment are at the very top of the agenda, which will ensure that we double non-U.S. trade over the next 10 years.

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

Thank you for that. I would just note that despite all the fanfare about travelling around the world and trying to attract foreign investment, the reality is that according to Statistics Canada's May 29 release, business capital investment in Canada declined 0.7% last quarter, the fifth consecutive quarterly decline. None of this seems to be working. Business capital investment is in fact declining, notwithstanding foreign investment flows. I just want to make that point.

To go back to the earlier point, it just seems to be somewhat contradictory to build fortress North America, which implies a tariff wall around North America, and then to try to further diversify trade in the Indo-Pacific region and in Europe. I would point to the fact that today it's been reported that the Prime Minister was talking to President Trump about the 49,000 electric vehicles that the government has decided will be admitted to Canada at a much reduced tariff. To me, that seems to be an example of the incongruity between building fortress North America and at the same time agreeing to allow 49,000 EVs manufactured in the PRC into Canada.

Again, it seems to be a contradiction. I think, from what I've been reading, some European allies are actually questioning how fortress North America is consistent with diversifying trade with the European Union.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Mr. Chair, allow me the time to respond to this question.

There is no contradiction between growing the Canadian economy—doubling non-U.S. trade over the next 10 years by diversifying our trade relationships, including with Europe—and ensuring that Canadian businesses have markets south of the 49th parallel.

Our responsibility as a government is to grow the Canadian economy at a moment when the geopolitical order and in particular the world trading order that have been at the heart of Canada's prosperity for decades are being completely rewired.

Again, there is no incongruity between ensuring that we have a strong relationship with the United States and Mexico and diversifying non-U.S. trade, including with Europe, including with the ASEAN, including with Mercosur, including in the gulf region, from which I just returned, and the list goes on.

We will double non-U.S. trade. We will bring home $1 trillion of investment, $100 billion of which the Prime Minister has already received a commitment for. This is work that is pragmatic. It is not automatic, but it will continue, and we will deliver for Canadians and the Canadian economy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Sari, you have five minutes.