International Trade Committee on May 11th, 2015

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

We are aware of the ten-year visa. In fact, we're very happy that you took the idea that was proposed by the NDP on this. It's really great news that we reached consensus.

Moving onto my last question, Minister Fast, several TPP member states have extremely poor human rights records and are undemocratic. Vietnam persecutes dissidents and does not permit free elections, and tolerates child labour and forced labour. Brunei recently passed a form of sharia law that imposes a death penalty by stoning for adultery and homosexuality. In October 2012, the then foreign affairs minister, John Baird, said: “I know that staying silent is never an option when people stone women, when they hate gays...”.

Minister Fast, when I was researching this I couldn't find any public statements from you as Minister of International Trade raising these issues in Canada, so can I—

[The Chair, Conservative, Randy Hoback]

You have 10 seconds, Minister.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

First of all—

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Will you raise these concerns at the next ministerial round?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

I can tell you, as I've publicly stated many times, that when I engage with my counterparts around the world in countries where there may be human rights challenges, I consistently raise human rights as an issue. I do so respectfully but frankly, and I've done so many times and have said so publicly, as has the Prime Minister.

We continue to engage with countries around the world on that.

Let me add that when we engage—

[The Chair, Conservative, Randy Hoback]

Okay, we're going to have to—

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

—on trade, we also have unique opportunities to engage on issues like human rights, democratic—

[The Chair, Conservative, Randy Hoback]

I'm going to have to cut you off there, Minister, I'm sorry.

Mr. Shory, maybe you'll let the minister finish his comment.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister.

Thanks to the officials as well.

Minister, you mentioned that there are one million SMEs and that only 41,000 of them export. That's shocking not only to me but also to a lot of Canadians. We talked about the visit of India's Prime Minister, which was the first visit in 42 years by an Indian Prime Minister. I and a lot of other people heard him say publicly, when he mentioned completing his road map, that he has a target to finish all these things by September 2015. Considering that we have such a small number of SMEs, I'd like you to expand on the effects that a trade agreement with India will have on our Canadian SMEs.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

I know that Prime Minister Modi made a public commitment to coming up with a road map for our free trade negotiations. We welcome that interest, by the way.

At the end of the day, what's most important is not the timeline. What's most important is that Canada conclude a quality trade agreement that serves our national interest. That has always been the standard we have set for ourselves, and that is the standard we are committed to meeting.

With respect to small and medium-sized businesses, I have spoken to many Canadians who have tried to do business in India and have found it a complex, frustrating environment. It is a very large economy when you have 1.2 billion people in one place. When you have a country full of entrepreneurs but without a coherent set of rules at times, it does become frustrating. That's why we believe it is in Canada's interest to conclude negotiations on both an investment treaty as well as a free trade agreement.

Free trade agreements not only eliminate tariffs between Canada and a trading partner, but they also eliminate many of those frustrating processes behind the scenes or behind the borders that trip up Canadian entrepreneurs when they look to do business in a new market.

We are very much optimistic that we'll be able to conclude an agreement with India that will reduce, and in some cases eliminate, those non-tariff barriers and make it easier for Canadian companies to invest in and do business with India in a transparent and predictable way.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

I also want to touch on your South Korea trade mission. We have talked about it.

What Canadian industry sectors will benefit most from our free trade agreement with South Korea?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

There are many different areas that we could benefit from.

As you know, Korea is a science and technology giant. When you think of products like Samsung and LG and some of the high-tech products they're producing, there are great opportunities for Canadian companies to feed into those supply chains and develop some of the high-tech solutions that the Koreans are noted for.

Of course, Korea is also concerned about energy security. This is where we believe we have tremendous opportunities to grow our trade. We believe that the area of food security is also one that Korea has to be mindful of. Remember that Korea is a country that is full of prosperous companies, people in the middle class who are looking for premium-quality products that they may not find in other countries around the world. Canada offers that benefit. We have tremendous opportunities to open up Korea as a market in which our small and medium-sized businesses can flourish, as well as our national and multinational companies.

One thing that I've mentioned to a lot of the SMEs I meet across Canada is that although they start off by being SMEs, some of them will actually become flag-bearers for Canada. They'll become flagship companies that Canada will profile all around the world. We need more of those companies, and they all start out as SMEs.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Talking about Go Global workshops, you mentioned that 2,000 individuals have attended those workshops. Agencies were also present there.

We have heard from witnesses for the last two months, and quite a few are aware of them—

[The Chair, Conservative, Randy Hoback]

I'm going to have to stop you there, Mr. Shory. There won't be time to answer the question. I apologize.

We'll move on to Mr. Morin.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Good afternoon, Minister.

Your government missed an opportunity to become one of the founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. By doing so, it refused to join countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, which decided to contribute to the development of this important infrastructure.

Why did your government refuse to become a founding member? Are you planning to join the initiative in the near future?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Well, I want to assure the member that we haven't closed the door to participation in the AIIB. Canada is a country that prides itself on having the highest standards of banking probity; we pride ourselves on having the safest, soundest banking system in the world. When we engage with others around the world, we expect them to also achieve high levels of transparency, high levels of governance also, but we want to make sure that the ownership of the AIIB is structured in a way that it does not provide for a veto for one particular party or groups of parties. We continue to explore the AIIB. It has not yet developed its governance structures, its transparency rules. We expect that they will have articles of association ready for review by their members by the end of June—at least that is the most recent timeline we've heard.

We will have a chance to look at it, and determine whether it's in Canada's best interests to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, but we're only going to do so if, in fact, it's in Canada's best interests, and at this point in time we haven't yet determined whether that is the case.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

All those countries seem to be very serious partners. We are already pretty engaged with Australia, Germany, France and Italy.

Would it have not been preferable to join from the beginning so as to be able to influence the structure instead of waiting to see how it will be developed?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

You failed to mention those countries that haven't yet joined. Our government takes the position that before we join an organization, we want to know exactly what it's going to look like, how it's going to operate, and whether it's going to actually be an organization that serves Canada's national interest. I note that the United States didn't join. Mexico didn't join. The Philippines didn't join. And many other countries around the world did not.

Each of us makes decisions in our sovereign interest. We looked very carefully at how the AIIB was developing. We made the decision that we wanted to see more clearly exactly what that organization will look like. And again, as Canadians who are in a position to boast having the safest and soundest banking system in the world, we apply very high standards when it comes to banking. We want to make sure the organizations that we join actually reflect those high standards.

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

The terms of the softwood lumber agreement with the United States will expire next October.

Will the government negotiate enhancements to the agreement to help producers and processors get back on their feet and create jobs for Canadians?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

I didn't catch the agreement you were referring to. Are you talking about the softwood lumber agreement?

[Marc-André Morin, NDP, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Yes, the softwood lumber agreement.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

As you know, the softwood lumber agreement was signed in 2006, and since then we have had peace, stability, and predictability. It has served our industry well. We believe it has also served the United States' industry well. That agreement expires in October of this year. The agreement also has a standstill agreement, which means that both parties are committed to not embarking upon any court challenges for a year after its expiry. We have consulted very broadly and intensely with our key stakeholders in the softwood lumber industry, and there is a broad consensus that what we should be aiming for is a renewal of this agreement.

The original term of the agreement was seven years, with a two-year renewal attached to it. We triggered that two-year renewal. We're now coming to the end of that. We would like to take that agreement and simply port it over, essentially just taking that original agreement and renewing it in its entirety. We've made that clear to our U.S. counterparts, and we hope they see it our way.

[The Chair, Conservative, Randy Hoback]

I'll have to stop you there, Minister.

We'll go on to Ms. Grewal.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Minister, in your opinion, what regions or countries should our SMEs be focusing on to expand growth?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Good question. I hope there are lots of SMEs watching these proceedings.

I would start by saying, look at where we have trade agreements. We have trade agreements with 43 different countries around the world. Start to focus on those because that's where we've eliminated most, if not all, of the tariffs. For example, in Latin America, some of our closest trading partners are countries like Chile, Peru, and Colombia. I know a number of you have travelled to that region quite regularly, and the reason we travel there is simply that those countries share our approach and perspective to trade. We agree that trade should be freer and more open. We agree that investments should be protected. Countries like Costa Rica and Panama are countries that we would encourage Canadians to look at.

But then we have the upcoming European Union trade agreement, which we expect will come into force in, say, one-and-a-half to two years. When that agreement comes into force, we want our Canadian small and medium-sized businesses to be ready to take advantage of that agreement. We don't want them to start prepping when the agreement comes into force. Today is the time to prep, to do the due diligence, to start to prospect for partners and for retailers in that huge marketplace, which, by the way, is the largest consumer market in the world, with some 500 million consumers, many of them well-heeled, looking for high quality, premium Canadian products. We want our SMEs to take advantage of those opportunities.