Industry Committee on Dec. 9th, 2024

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Conservatives will have a chance tomorrow to vote on whether seniors should be able to get dentists.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

—and saying that Canadians are just experiencing it differently.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Colleagues, that's enough.

MP Badawey, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

That was entertaining.

I have to emphasize this point. The United States has 345 million people. Canada has close to 40 million people. Because of our ratified trade agreements, today Canada's economic population is over 1.3 billion.

With that said, moving forward, we are looking at supply chains, infrastructure modernization, managing our assets, technological innovation, sustainability, regulatory harmonization, workforce development, capacity building and, most importantly, not only binational but international collaboration.

Can you speak about how we're moving forward, once again touching on all those points with respect to supply chain resiliency but also taking full advantage of Canada's economic population, which, as I said earlier, is over 1.3 billion people?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Badawey, I can only say that you're spot-on again.

Canadians watching, I hope, should realize—and I'll repeat myself because I know that every time I say it, Canadians say, “wow”—that Canada is the only G7 country that has a free trade agreement with all the other G7 countries. Think about that. This is an accomplishment that will go down in history. Now we are linked to the European Union, having access to this wonderful market, hundreds of millions of people—some would say, the largest consumer market in the world. What is amazing is that Canada is almost considered a European country when it comes to opportunities—for example, if you want to bid for public work in the European Union. That has vastly expanded the opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.

Then, look at what we've done with the CPTPP. I would say that demography is destiny. Canada had the foresight, at the time, to say we should join one of the largest-growing trade blocs in the world. Imagine, Mr. Badawey, that when we started that, Canada was the second-largest economy in that grouping of countries, because when the United States decided to leave, there was Japan and then Canada. Now you have the United Kingdom, which is part of it, but think about that: If you're on the west coast and you want to sell in Japan or in Singapore, or you believe in the growth of the market in Vietnam, you have this unique opportunity to sell to some of the fastest-growing economies in Asia.

Then, obviously, we have what Minister Freeland.... I think we should all, as Canadians, recognize the work that she's been doing on USMCA to make sure that Canada is part of the greatest economic zone in the world, with the United States and Mexico. If you look at opportunities and possibilities....

That's why, every time I hear Conservatives talking down Canada, it hurts me, and I'm sure it hurts Canadians, because if you look at the fundamentals today, what do you need? You need talent. You need a large ecosystem, like the one we have in steel, aluminum, auto manufacturing and energy. You need critical minerals. I put it to you that critical minerals are going to be as important as oil was in the 20th century, because you need critical minerals to make not only batteries but semiconductors. If you agree with me that semiconductors are the DNA of progress, the nations that are going to have the critical minerals are going to be winners in the economy of the 21st century.

We have abundant renewable energy. More than 80% of our grid is renewable energy. Think about that. Canada, now, through the investment by Brookfield in Westinghouse, with Cameco, indirectly has access to 50% of all the civilian-installed nuclear bases in the world. Think about the opportunity. Canada and the United States can lead the world. Some have said we're going to become the superpower of renewable energy. Think about that for the future generations.

What we have accomplished—like you said, Mr. Badawey—is that now, if you're a small or medium-sized business in Canada, you can sell to the United States, our closest partner, but you also can think about selling to Germany. You can sell to Italy. You can then move on and say, “I'm going to be in Vietnam.”

Canada is uniquely placed. We've been blessed with geography, natural resources and the people who have come to our shores. If you look at the fundamentals for the 21st century, we have everything to win. That's why I want an ambitious Canada, a Canada that looks at possibilities and opportunities: strong, proud, ambitious. That's what we need to be, and that's why I think every member of this House and this committee, especially at the industry committee, should celebrate. We should all do a road show together, talk about what we have as Canada, go around the world and sell the country. That's why, sometimes, we should all be bragging about Canada and Canadian workers, because we have the best.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Now, for the final round, I have five minutes for Mr. Chambers, and five minutes for Mr. Turnbull.

Mr. Chambers, the floor is yours.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Ministers, it's nice to have you here.

I just wanted to follow up on the questions from my colleague Mr. Perkins about the emissions cap. I'm just curious, can you confirm whether the Department of Finance did an economic analysis of the impacts of the emissions cap on the GDP?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chambers, I just very quickly want to say that I appreciated what I saw was your chuckle when I mentioned the Trans Mountain pipeline. I do want to say, in the spirit of what the industry minister said, let's celebrate the great things we can do together.

He's been talking about some great trade deals. I want to take one bipartisan moment to recognize the work that Ed Fast did in putting some of those deals in motion. I was glad to congratulate him on the floor of the House of Commons, and I'm glad to say that today.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Thank you. I will pass that along to Ed.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Please do.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

My question is, did the Department of Finance complete an economic impact analysis of the impact of the emissions cap on the GDP?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

I will say that I recognize, as I think we all ought to, the importance of the oil and gas sector to the Canadian economy.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

If it's a no, that's fine.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

We are very thoughtful about ensuring that the sector can continue to contribute, and—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

I just find it hard to believe—

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

—that's why we built a pipeline, which your government failed to do.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

—that the Department of Finance would not have completed an economic impact analysis for a policy measure that great.

Is your testimony that there is no economic analysis, or that there is but you don't really want to talk about it?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

My point, Mr. Chambers, is this: To have Conservatives talk about the importance of the oil and gas sector, when they didn't build a pipeline and when they—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Will there be a loss?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

—did everything they could to stop us from building a pipeline that has closed the differential that Canada was paying to the U.S. and has diversified our trade—

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

That's fair enough. I'm going to jump in, because it's clear you don't want to answer the question.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

—opportunities at a critical moment, is the height of hypocrisy.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

I'll ask one on Trans Mountain.

Will you guarantee that there won't be a loss to the government when it disposes of the Trans Mountain pipeline, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

I am confident that Trans Mountain will be a very clear and strong benefit to the people of Canada. This was a great investment. It is already making our country more prosperous and giving us the proper national security.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Okay. Thank you very much.

In the 2019 election, the Liberal Party platform said that increasing amortization to 30 years would push up house prices and push people further into debt. Yet, just a couple of months ago, your government increased amortization to 30 years.

Did you reverse that position? Do you believe it's going to increase house prices?