Evidence of meeting #69 for International Trade in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was region.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:50 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
At times my French gets stretched.
Observer status involves our enhancing our bilateral dialogue with the Pacific Alliance and attending a number of meetings, but a very limited number of meetings.
4:50 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
But there was no need for a detailed cost-benefit analysis. It's more at the foreign policy level that we made the analysis, that is, does it make sense to join the Pacific Alliance as observers, an alliance that consists of four of our closest like-minded partners in the region? The answer is pretty clear that, yes, the cost at this stage is the cost of attending some meetings and talking to partners that we're talking to anyway.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Annick Papillon NDP Québec, QC
But concerning this analysis, you don't have any record, yes or no, about the costs and everything? Do you have anything that is written?
4:50 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Of course, there are written records of our thinking on Pacific Alliance. That's a normal part of our analysis.
Sorry, I'm not trying to avoid your question. It's just that you're asking it in a way that is quite specific, as if there were one document with a cost-benefit analysis of observership. The cost of observership is very low; the benefit is very high. It wasn't a detailed technical analysis. It was a pretty easy point to come to.
4:50 p.m.
NDP
Annick Papillon NDP Québec, QC
Even if it's not a total record, even if it's only a few notes, would you agree to let us know so that we would be able to better know at committee what you are doing and what you have observed, so that we would be able to ask good questions when we have witnesses, for example? Anything would be acceptable to us. We know that you have a few notes. Is it possible, in one way or another, to get access to those notes?
4:50 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
I will take that back and see if there is something beyond what I told the committee at the beginning that would be useful on our move to observer status last October.
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Well....
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
If I'm reading it right, the information you gave in your opening remarks is—
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
That was it.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
—reflective of the analysis that you went on in the department. Is that right?
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Yes.
I'm not being cagey here.
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
It's just very, very difficult to answer this because the cost is virtually nil—I just went through it in my intervention. It includes attending some meetings as observers. The benefit is clear and is attached to our relationships with those specific alliance members. That was the extent of the analysis, and I tried to set that out in my opening remarks.
4:55 p.m.
NDP
Annick Papillon NDP Québec, QC
But can't I get any notes from that analysis, or anything from it? Even if it's not perfect or complete or as exhaustive as it could be, just a few notes could help us do our work better and see where we should ask questions.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Okay, if I can just comment here for a second, she's asking for information. I think the question would be: do you have any further information to what you gave us here? But the analysis you gave us here is pretty clear as to why you'd want to have observer status. I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but I think that's what you said. Is that right?
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Yes. Thank you.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
So what you're saying is that you don't have anything further to what you have here.
4:55 p.m.
Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
I will take this back and assess it, but right now the information that I've been giving you, from top of mind, is the same thought process we went through prior to announcing our observership. But I will check and see if there's something additional.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
Okay. And if you do, then perhaps you'd send it to the committee and we'd put it in our report.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Chair, just on this point, I think there's a misinterpretation, I really do.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
No, Ms. Buck is talking about a cost-benefit analysis in terms of our being observers. What I asked for initially, in terms of a cost-benefit analysis, was a cost-benefit analysis on being a full member of the Pacific Alliance. There's a huge difference between the two.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rob Merrifield
That's true, and I think the answer was that there isn't any such analysis on our moving forward at this stage to full membership. Is that right?