Evidence of meeting #135 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Was Mr. Clark informed that a decision had been taken to pivot from a renovation to a property purchase?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Mr. Clark was aware that there was a process ongoing to find a new official residence.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Did Mr. Clark ever opine on, or are you aware of him ever offering any opinion on the suitability of the residence that's to be disposed of?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Mr. Chair, Mr. Clark never opined to me about the disposal of the current residence.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Further to my question, did he ever speak about the suitability of or his comfort with the residence that's being sold?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Mr. Chair, Mr. Clark never shared with me his thoughts on the suitability of the current residence.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Are you aware of him expressing any opinion on it?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I am not personally aware of Mr. Clark having shared any opinion on the current residence.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Was he read in on any of the options for the now purchased residence or during that process?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
No. Mr. Clark was not aware of any of the options and was not part of the process to look at them.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Are you familiar with the space that's shared by your office and the ambassador to the United Nations?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Yes, I'm familiar with the chancery building and the shared space.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Is it your opinion that it's a suitable place to hold meetings with trade officials and dignitaries?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yes, we host many different types of meetings in the shared space at the chancery.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
What's the highest level of dignitary or the highest individual in the order of precedence who has been party to a meeting in that space?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We have had meetings with ministers—not as part of the consulate work—and the Prime Minister has had meetings in this office.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Have you had any ambassadors there?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Not on the consul general side, so I couldn't speak to that, but I understand that we have on the United Nations side.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Are you aware of there being any ambassadors participating in meetings in the shared space?
Deputy Consul General, The Consulate General of Canada, New York, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
In the shared space, I understand that ambassadors on the United Nations side participate in meetings.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
I just find it very interesting.
About the value—we're going to run short on time here—I'd really like to know about the added value for Canadians who are working in Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, in Victoria, British Columbia, or in Windsor, Toronto, Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie, who are struggling to pay their bills. What added value do they get for this?
When we have a meeting space.... We're told that we need this new $9-million residence for Tom Clark, Justin Trudeau's buddy, on Billionaires' Row because the meeting space was insufficient, but the space you have has hosted prime ministers, ambassadors and all order of people.
What's the added value for Canadians who can't pay their rent and for the one in four Canadians who are going to food banks?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
I'm afraid there's no time for a response.
Mr. Longfield, we'll go over to you, please, for five minutes.
Liberal
Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON
Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for providing such detailed information to us and for helping us with our responsibilities as members of Parliament.
As a member of Parliament, I've used a few consular offices in Ottawa, but many Canadians won't know the purpose of consular offices. I could speak to what may be part of my experience with consular offices, and then maybe Mr. Allen can help fill in how this could benefit Canadians.
Previous to being a member of Parliament, I was managing director of a United Kingdom company in Canada, and when I was elected, I went to the U.K. consul to meet with him at the residence, with other MPs, to talk about the trade relationship between Canada and the U.K., one of our most important trading partners.
I've been to the consular office for the Netherlands, where they have expertise in clean technology; Guelph is quite involved with climate change initiatives and clean technology companies, and we know that we have a route to the Netherlands through Ottawa and the consular office that's on the ground here.
I'm also picturing the American elected officials using consular offices in the same way to have a route into potential trade partners for their constituents.
Mr. Allen, could you talk about how elected officials in the United States might benefit from this New York location? Given the NAFTA negotiations that we've just gone through and will be going through again soon, changes in government and changes in political climate, and trying to add to business stability with face-to-face communications, could you comment on the significant strategic importance of having on-the-ground consular services for elected officials to use?
Director General, North America, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Absolutely.
Our network of missions abroad really represents the totality of Canadian interests in each of the cities and regions where they're located. We've talked about the trade and investment side of that, the public affairs side of that and the consular services side of that.
Also importantly, they build our brand around the world and show.... You've used examples like clean tech, which also apply to Canada, and I mentioned critical minerals, so I think we're lucky as a country to have a very positive brand abroad, but it takes work, as I say, to continue to promote that.
In representing the totality of our interests, they also provide an important meeting place for international interlocutors from the commercial world, as we say, and from institutions, and really, I think, despite the networked world that we are increasingly living in, there's absolutely no substitute for that face-to-face communication, which is really the business of diplomacy. Thank you.
Liberal
Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON
Thank you.
Social media is what it is, and email communications and even me attending not in person creates a distance between me and the people I'm talking to. It's second best to face to face.
I'm looking at Canada's exports of goods and services. Our exports increased 4.4% in June, and imports rose 1.8% in June, so our balance of trade did quite well in June, and I think we've shown over the past several months an increase in our exports to international partners.
I'm working with the small businesses in Guelph. Last week I was at a wheelchair manufacturer in Guelph, and I asked, “Have you considered our trade services and using the Canada Business app so that you could get in touch with our trade services? You could export these goods, and not just serve our local and Canadian community; you've got world-class products here.”
Small businesses need those connections, either through the Canada Business app or the face-to-face opportunities our offices can provide.
Could you comment on any of the face-to-face opportunities you've witnessed at this office in New York?