Industry and Technology Committee on May 25th, 2026

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I am, but I am not in charge of CSIS.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

That's right, but you are being consulted on the framework. That is what you said the last time you were here.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Yes, when it comes to our industrial capacity, of course.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

You're not concerned about the security implications. It's not your job to worry about that. You're just bringing them in and—

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

You have specific demands linked to CSIS and their analysis. You know very well, being a very seasoned MP, that this is not under my purview.

Of course I'll work with them, but I don't have specific intelligence to prove any form of—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

That was your analysis, as well, a year and a half ago, when you banned them.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Can I finish my answer?

I would like to finish my answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Go ahead, Minister.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

As I was saying, if there's specific intel linked to Chinese EV software per se, of course we will take that into account. Of course we will be working as a team.

Right now, you're asking me questions that are linked to the Minister of Public Safety. They are extremely important—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

You made the agreement.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

—and I don't want them to go unanswered. That's why I think he should be the one to answer them.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Did you not make the agreement? Were you not in charge of the agreement to bring in 49,000 Chinese EVs?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I was working with the Prime Minister, and I stand by it. I think it is a very good agreement and Canadians widely support it.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

It's interesting that you won't answer the security questions.

I will put one more question to you.

Michael Kovrig was here. I know you know who he is. He said a very interesting thing, and I want your perspective on it.

He said:

The PRC weaponizes technology, supply chains and market access to coerce acquiescence to its geopolitical agenda. China's ambassador just demonstrated this when he pressed Canada to weaken the long-standing policy on Taiwan. Importing Chinese EVs means importing predatory monopolistic behaviour that our companies can't survive, labour conditions that our workers won't tolerate and infringements of sovereignty that our nation shouldn't accept.

Do you agree with Mr. Kovrig?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I have a lot of time and respect for Mr. Kovrig. I've talked and worked with him on many occasions.

I also think it is important for us to have a relationship with China, including on the industrial front, where we are able to do business together, because we do business together. We do business together because a lot of our great farmers and fishers send a lot of great Canadian products there. Also, a lot of our financial sector is in China. We also have many service-providing companies there. Meanwhile, we import from China many goods that Canadians enjoy every single day.

In the circumstances—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

You don't seem to be concerned with the cost this may have for Canada. We'll move on.

Mr. Chair, with my remaining time, I'd like to give the last minute to Mr. Guglielmin.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

There's a lot of crosstalk.

Minister, I'm going to give you 15 seconds to finish that thought.

I've paused the clock. Mr. Guglielmin, when you take over, you'll have 60 seconds, which means you'll have time, probably, for one question.

Minister, answer really quickly, please.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

At a time when we're the victim of a trade war waged by the U.S., Canada needs to have a relationship with China that is stable and that is based also on the agreement that we were able to ratify back in January. Meanwhile, we're protecting our sectors that are victims of U.S. protectionism.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Mr. Guglielmin, I'm going to start the clock again. You'll have a minute, sir.

[Michael Guglielmin, Conservative, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Minister, thank you for being here today.

Earlier this month, you appeared at this committee, and my colleague, Ted Falk, asked you when the EV mandate would be repealed. Your exact words were, “There is no EV mandate.” The very next hour, we had Brian Kingston from the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association here. You know him. I reiterated your response to him, and he told the committee, “The mandate is still in force today, and it continues to create financial and legal compliance burdens for companies.”

Given the fact that we're in this trade war and that businesses in this country, especially the auto sector, need certainty, which is it? Is the EV mandate repealed, as you suggested last time you were at committee, or is it still on the books, as the industry suggests?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

At the federal level, there's no EV mandate. Of course, don't take it from me. You can take it from the department. My assistant deputy minister will be able to answer that.

I think what Mr. Kingston was referring to is the fact that there are EV mandates in Quebec and B.C., under provincial jurisdiction.

[Michael Guglielmin, Conservative, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

No, Minister, that's not what he was referring to.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

In the auto strategy, it is clear. Our goal is to make sure that there's no EV mandate.

[Michael Guglielmin, Conservative, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

It's been repealed in rhetoric but not in law. According to the industry experts, that EV mandate is still very much in place. We're looking for a date when it's actually going to be repealed.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

It's going to be my priority that it is repealed very quickly, because we have said clearly that we're getting rid of it.