Government Operations Committee on Nov. 21st, 2024

[Thomas Clark]

For the third time, I will say that when I made those comments, I was in the residence; I was not in the office. The people in the residence were the ones greeting me at the time. One was our MCO, who was Mario Bot. Quite frankly, I can't remember who else was there. I think there were about three or four other people, mainly from the property section of New York.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Table all the names of the individuals you spoke with where you highlighted deficiencies in the official residence, whether in the residence itself, the staff, or your staff at your office in Manhattan. Will you table those names and those positions, including their email addresses, to this committee, yes or no?

[Thomas Clark]

I will do my very best to try to remember who was in that meeting—

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

You also indicated that the comment you made about immediate replacement was made in passing to a colleague and reported by the Consulate General to Global Affairs. Who was that colleague?

[Thomas Clark]

I never made that comment.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

You're quoted in the National Post, so you can take that up with the National Post.

It's very clear that GAC officials earlier this week confirmed how important your mission is. You, as head of mission, are the most important official in that residence, and what you say carries great weight, so, Tom, you influenced your staff, because you indicated to your staff that your champagne tastes were not suitable anymore for Park Avenue, and you needed that wonderful Central Park view on Billionaires' Row. Isn't that correct?

[Thomas Clark]

Mr. Chair, everything that was said is inaccurate.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you. That's our time.

We'll go to Mr. Bains now, please.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to Consul General Clark for once again joining our committee to clarify and answer these questions.

Mr. Clark, my hometown is Richmond, British Columbia, and the cornerstone of this city is the fishing industry in Steveston. We have the largest commercial fishing harbour in Canada, and it offloads approximately 100 million pounds of seafood and fish annually. The harbour recently established another new business offloading another four million pounds of crab, Dungeness crab, and a new processing plant has been set up there.

I'm curious about our seafood and fish trade on the eastern seaboard there. Maybe you can talk a bit about that industry, that sector, and the impacts that it may have on trade with the States that you recognized earlier today and that amounted to $325 billion.

[Thomas Clark]

Agriculture and aquaculture are big industries and are being recognized as such in the investment community here in the United States and, frankly, also in the restaurant industry here in New York. There are thousands of restaurants here.

We have hosted, for example, Prince Edward Island. The Premier of Prince Edward Island came down with a delegation, and we helped them make contact with both food distributors and restaurants here in New York. It was a very successful trade mission.

We've also done the same, for example—and this is a little outside of the fishery industry—with hosting Ontario wines, Quebec wines and Nova Scotia wines here in New York, as a way of connecting them to the larger ecosystem both financially and in terms of the hospitality industry in New York.

I would simply agree with you, sir, that this is a very big and important business for Canada down here.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

It amounts to about $200 million of economic impact just in our region here in the Lower Mainland in British Columbia. I was just curious to see how much of an impact that may have on those eastern states.

You talked a bit about competitiveness. Maybe you can talk to us about the official residence in New York. We know now that we have a new administration coming in. Many of the allied nations, the G7 nations, will need to establish new relationships as we see members of the new administration being appointed, many of whom may not have pre-established relationships with some of these nations. We need to find our way and make sure we remain competitive and are at the forefront of some of these discussions.

Will there be more activity, all of a sudden, at this residence? Take your time. Go ahead and explain, please.

[Thomas Clark]

I think that all of our diplomatic tools are now going to be used more than they've ever been used before.

We're engaging with the new administration. We're engaging with, as I said at the beginning, as many Americans, both inside and outside the political process, as we possibly can.

We are at a point when defending, protecting and promoting Canada's interests in the United States means all hands on deck. We have a story to tell. We have interests to protect. We want to promote Canadian business, as you were just talking about with the Lower Mainland and the fishing industry that exists there.

As with any new administration coming in, there are new players; there are new ideas, and there are new thoughts. We want to intersect with all of those and, in the process of doing that, tell Canada's story.

To go directly to the question you're asking about the use of the official residence, this is really Canada's house in New York. This is where people come from all walks of life in New York, and they walk into Canada's house. It is there that we exchange ideas, tell our story and promote ourselves as true allies, friends and partners in North America, promoting the North American vision of what we are and who we want to be collectively.

I envisage that the new residence—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I'm afraid we're well past our time, Mr. Clark.

Thanks very much, Mr. Bains and Mr. Clark.

We'll go to Mrs. Vignola. However, before we start, there's a fair amount of noise in the room. Can everyone keep it down, please?

Mrs. Vignola, the floor is yours for two and a half minutes.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Thank you very much, Chair.

If I understand correctly, Mr. Clark, you made what you thought was a casual comment. You never thought that it would get back to Global Affairs Canada. Have I understood correctly?

[Thomas Clark]

That is correct.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I have a question for you, then. I don't have much time, maybe two minutes.

How can we prevent a misunderstanding from happening in the future like the one that led to this study and everything that we're going through now?

Could some guidelines be given to consuls, consular staff and Global Affairs Canada employees to ensure there is a very clear distinction between an unofficial opinion, which is not intended whatsoever to influence a process, and the process itself? Would there any such recommendations to be made?

[Thomas Clark]

That's a very good question. I will answer it this way, briefly.

The process needs to remain the process. I think anybody coming into a new residence.... You can't prevent somebody from saying, “Wow, this is nice,” or, “Wow, this is bad.” However, I think there has to be an understanding on the part of everybody—as there is now, and as there was here in New York—that the process is entirely in the hands of Ottawa. I don't think it would befit any head of mission to walk in and ask for a new residence. I can't imagine anybody doing that. I certainly didn't do that.

I think that, to your point, madam, perhaps HOMs should be told the obvious, which is, “Don't interfere with the decisions that are properly being made elsewhere.”

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you very much. That's our time.

Mr. Boulerice, go ahead, please.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Clark, I'm going to take advantage of your presence here today to ask you a question about a matter of great concern to Quebeckers and Canadians. I'm referring to the upcoming installation of the new Trump administration. Trump announced his intentions regarding, among other things, economic protectionism. The imposition of customs tariffs and a potential renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement could threaten jobs in Quebec and Canada.

What strategy and what game plan are you putting in place in New York to protect jobs in Quebec and Canada?

[Thomas Clark]

What we are doing is talking to as many people as we possibly can. This is a wonderful occasion for education. What I find so often, quite frankly, when I'm dealing with issues here in the United States, is that we're pushing against an open door. There's no real resistance to dealing with Canada. It is a matter of educating people about who we are and what we bring to the table. I work closely, for example, with the Délégation générale du Québec à New York. We work collaboratively to advance both Canadian and Québécois interests here in New York.

On all of the above questions you asked, the answer is that we need engagement; we need to talk, and we need to tell the Canadian story.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

In closing, I would remind everyone that the United States has a federal government too. It wields tremendous power in some respects.

I'd like your opinion on the role the individual states play in our economic relationships with our American partners.

[Thomas Clark]

That's a great question.

This is extremely important. As I said earlier, in four of my five states, we are the number one customer by a wide margin. When you take a look at the central issue of energy, for example, Hydro-Québec is building a line into New York City that, within a year and a half, will provide 20% of the electricity needs of New York City. That's enormous, and that's coming from Quebec. That is a real—excuse the expression—connector between the two places.

When you deal with this at the state and county level, you're dealing with very important, on-the-ground decisions that really mean something to people. That is very satisfying for me.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

Thank you, gentlemen.

We'll go to Mrs. Block, and then we'll finish with Mr. Sousa.

Mrs. Block, go ahead, please.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Mr. Clark, for joining us today.

It would appear that your testimony today is consistent with that which you gave at your first appearance here at committee, in which you continued to deny having any involvement in the purchase process for the new official residence and you made no direct complaints about the state of the current residence.

Is that correct?