International Trade Committee on June 1st, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Apparently.

Well, I think he was just about to wrap up anyway, was he not, Mr. Julian?

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Chair, thank you. Yes, momentarily, in just a few moments.

But of course Mr. Brison forgets that this is a public meeting and so that transcript will go out across the country. People will be able to see exactly what went on in this meeting.

So what does “on a regular basis” mean? It certainly doesn't mean every few years. It means on a regular and substantive basis. Normally that would be every quarter, every trimester. And “with representatives of Canadian labour and trade unions”, well, that would mean, certainly, representatives of the CLC, representatives of some of the largest unions that exist in our country, which were shut out from coming in front of this committee, and it means that the spectrum of Canadian trade unionists and labour activists would actually have an effective word next to the minister's, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

A great idea.

Monsieur Laforest.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, with respect to his amendment, Mr. Julian spoke quite a bit about representatives from Canada's large unions, but that doesn't cover every union. There are not only large unions; there are also many union groups that are not necessarily considered to be large unions. One example would be the UPA in Quebec.

In terms of the way he sees or defines large unions, would a group like the Union des producteurs agricoles be considered a large union? For instance, I am thinking of a small union that might not represent the majority of construction workers. Would that be a large union? I think this is an important point in the debate. If there are to be consultations and the Minister is going to be consulting Canadian unions, I think the other unions should also be included.

I would also like to know a little more about the Joint Commission mentioned in clause 10. My question is addressed to Mr. Kronby.

What is the purpose of this Commission and what will it be doing? Will it have a duty of representation or be required to report to another group? Is the Minister, as the senior representative, according to this clause, also accountable, and to whom is he accountable?

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Mr. Kronby.

[Matthew Kronby]

I refer you, sir, to article 2001 of the FTA itself, which sets out what the joint commission is, what it does, what it must do, and what it may do. In the interest of time, I don't propose to read through the different paragraphs of the article, but I think the answer is there as to what the roles and responsibilities of the commission are.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Okay.

D'accord?

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Which clause is this, Mr. Chairman?

[Matthew Kronby]

It's article 2001.

It's in the free trade agreement, in the FTA. We're talking about the FTA. Are you in the FTA or the bill?

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Monsieur Laforest.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

With respect to the bill.

[Matthew Kronby]

No, this is not in the bill.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Then it's in the Free Trade Agreement.

[Matthew Kronby]

Yes, it's in the Free Trade Agreement.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Okay.

Monsieur Laforest.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

You could at least have read me some excerpts, by way of a summary.

[Matthew Kronby]

It starts out by saying that the joint commission consists of the cabinet level representatives of the parties or their designees; hence, clause 10 makes the Minister of International Trade the “principal representative” of Canada on the commission. It goes on to say in paragraph 2 that the commission shall supervise the implementation of the agreement; review the general functioning of the agreement; assess the outcomes of the application of the agreement; oversee the further elaboration of the agreement; supervise the work of all committees, working groups, and country coordinators established under the agreement; approve model rules of procedure—and that's for dispute settlement; and consider any other matter that may affect the operation of the agreement.

Then it goes on to permit the commission to do additional things, in paragraph 3, including adopting interpretive decisions concerning the agreement that are binding on dispute settlement panels. That's the same function that exists and has been used in NAFTA in the case of chapter 11.

Then, perhaps of interest to you, is that it can seek the advice of non-governmental persons or groups. The commission does have the power to do that. It can also take any other action in the exercise of its functions as the parties may agree.

The powers of the commission are quite broad.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

It's okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Okay.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

As far as I'm concerned, that's fine, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted some additional detail with respect to the Joint Commission.

I understand that we can't read every single part as we go through this. That may not be necessary; at the same time, based on my own understanding, this highlights to an even greater extent the importance of Mr. Julian's amendment regarding regular consultations with Canadian unions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Is there any further debate on this matter?

Mr. Julian, do you have anything further or should we call the question?

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

I'd like to have a recorded vote, please, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

This vote is on NDP amendment 6 to clause 10.

(Amendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 3)

We are now moving to the main clause, clause 10.

The amendment is defeated, I'm sorry to advise you, Mr. Julian. I know it would come as a shock.

I should just advise the committee at this point that we have reached the magic hour of no further debate on these clauses. That does give me the pleasure of thanking our representatives from the departments who have come to assist us. I appreciate your coming and staying until this late hour. You are now at liberty to leave. I'm sure you'd like to stay and enjoy the festivities, but thank you for your time.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Conservative, Lee Richardson]

Thank you for coming.

We'll take a two-minute break here while we bid our witnesses adieu.