International Trade Committee on June 5th, 2013

[Rick White]

There is. Yes.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

So how are you going to handle the supply when we sign more trade deals, which you've just said you want?

[Rick White]

Then the price goes up for farmers and they do better because of supply and demand—

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Yes, I know—

[Rick White]

—but the price signal will trigger more production as well.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

I guess that's the question. You said you had 43,000 growers and 228,000 jobs in this country, the largest....

By the way, to your credit, that's a phenomenal success story. You're another one of the witnesses we've had at our committee where there has been strong growth and strong success.

So you fully support us proceeding with the TPP?

[Rick White]

Yes.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Sir?

[Jim Everson]

Yes, we certainly would.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Okay. I just—

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

You have one minute.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Oh, that's lots. Thank you very much.

You see, it's interesting, because when you speak truth, then what happens is...and you're the ones who are speaking the truth. You're the ones I've heard who have said, get these deals done, get Japan done, get the TPP done, and you've talked about this as a broader model.

It's interesting. Around this table, when Doha was a discussion.... Well, I'm not sure we were born when Doha was first initiated, but it seems to me, as I have said before, that it's deader than Elvis. I hate to break it to you, but he's gone. Now what has happened is.... People complained because we did bilateral deals, and frankly, they complained that they weren't multilateral. We can go back in text in this committee when members opposite said we weren't doing enough.

Now we have a multilateral that's called the TPP, we're working on the Pacific Alliance, and we have the CETA, which we're hoping to put to bed fairly soon. Do you support our efforts to try to aggressively go after multilateral deals?

[Rick White]

Yes.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Is there any downside to either of your organizations, as related as you are, any way you would be hampered as a result of us proceeding with these multilateral arrangements, as well as the bilaterals like Japan?

[Rick White]

As it opens up markets, it's better for canola.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Mr. Everson, your last word?

[Jim Everson]

I would agree with that.

I would just take the opportunity to say that while Doha is a real challenge, for sure, and may be the way you described it, the WTO is critically important still. If the government and all the governments can bring back the WTO and breathe some life into it, a multilateral negotiation is a superior way altogether, I think, of dealing with agriculture trade issues.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

If the committee would give me a little bit of tolerance, I have a couple of questions before we finish off with this one.

First of all, what's the percentage of the edible oil market in the United States canola industry?

[Jim Everson]

About 13% of the oil market would be canola.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Compared to 40% in Japan?

[Jim Everson]

That's correct.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

So it's a tremendous opportunity as well.

[Jim Everson]

Yes, and we're growing that market. It has improved over past years.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes, exactly.

GMO wheat in the United States has lent itself to their support when it comes to low-level presence. Would it not...? Because they found some GMO wheat in the United States, and obviously they've been caught in this one. Do you see that as an opportunity?

[Rick White]

Well, it could be, but we have to be careful and explain what LLP is. LLP is approved in one market, but not the market of import. So it has already gone through a regulatory process somewhere to make sure it's safe. I'm not familiar enough with the wheat issue—