International Trade Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[Mike Savage]

Well, I think it will take longer just because of the process of finding out who may be interested from other parts of the world, and certainly within the European Union it will take longer. Any time you are obliged to open up your procurement process beyond what it is now, there is a concern that it will lengthen the time. We're trying in Halifax to shorten the time, as much as we can, on getting stuff out the door. So that's just a concern we have, and I think other municipalities have discussed this with the government as well.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Yes, depending on the method of putting tenders out, whether electronically, etc, I think that's something that can be addressed over time.

[Mike Savage]

I think it can.

One of the concerns is that there are questions about procurement processes that require the purchasing agent in a municipality to answer and respond, and allowing people to have sufficient time to respond to that. So, obviously, doing so electronically is fine, but there's still an element of appeal and information-seeking that might be a concern.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

With more competition and finite tax dollars, we know all levels of government face the challenge of wanting to do more with existing resources rather than raising taxes. I'm sure you struggle with this each week. Won't that actually in the long term potentially save some money with respect to infrastructure?

[Mike Savage]

Yes, I think there's a real possibility that it might, but it's a balance. It's a balance between wanting to make sure that your own companies have the opportunity to do work with what might be a taxpayer savings from having a wider scope of potential bidders on work. So there could be a potential tax saving in that for sure.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

One thing that was remarkable about CETA and the process was the partnerships at a provincial level with the FCM and key stakeholder groups to really develop a deal that was very good for all of Canada and all sectors, as much as we could. And FCM was there all the time.

The one thing I'd love you to comment on is that while some local preferences may not be permitted—there will be special exceptions made for aboriginal content and some things like that—it does not preclude municipalities that want to support a local industry to use the grant route and direct funding. Do you have any comment on that? It's really which way you try to stimulate economic activity.

[Mike Savage]

Mr. Morley may want to weigh in on this as well. For us, yes, there are a lot of different ways we want to support local industry. Procurement is only one of them. We as a municipality don't have that. We had a case in the last municipal election where we contracted out our facilitation of online voting to a Spanish company. I wasn't the mayor at the time, but I think most people would look at that contract and say there's a threshold at which you would want to support a local company. The Spanish company defeated a local company for that work, a start-up local company that has done some work in other parts of Canada, and it was a concern to people. It doesn't have to be about the total dollar value of the contract. It can be in the grading of the overall awarding of a contract, so there could be a percentage of it determined by what the impact on the local economy is.

We're told that under CETA we will still have that discretion, that we will have the discretion to use local criteria to select the best tender possible.

Yes, there are a number of ways. There are grants. There is procurement. There are lots of different ways we can support local business. We want our businesses to do well here, but we also want our businesses to export around the world as well.

Fred.

[Fred Morley]

To add to the mayor's comments, right now municipalities in Nova Scotia are precluded by provincial legislation from providing grants to business. Getting into that game would require a change to that legislation.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Etchegary, thank you very much. Clearly, you have a history and a passion for your province and the fishery that's probably unrivalled, so thank you for coming.

I'd like you to comment on three things. First is the fact that as a total export market to the U.S., our primary sale of all seafood has been in overall decline from the early 2000s to today. There were 256 processing plants in Newfoundland in 1989, and now there are approximately 87.

The final thing I'd like you to comment on is the $400 million fisheries fund that the federal government is committing, $280 million of that with Premier Dunderdale and the Newfoundland government, as a way of taking advantage of CETA and recognizing that there could be some innovation and things needed to make sure that the processing levels there now, which have been in decline for the last few decades, remain strong through innovation.

Could I have your comments on any of that, please.

[Gus Etchegary]

Firstly, on the decline in the export from, say, Newfoundland and Labrador in recent years, ever since the moratorium in 1992 it has been in decline, and the decline is because of the fact there are no fish to harvest and no fish to export. Except for a six-week crab fishery and a shrimp fishery, which is conducted about 70% of the time by factory freezer trawlers that don't land a pound in Newfoundland but directly into European ports, either in Greenland, the Faroe Islands or Iceland.

The decline is simply due to the fact that the resource has declined sharply and because of the continued overfishing that's carried out, and mismanagement. I have to tell you, mismanagement of what resources we have, and enabling it to rebuild, is why we are in the mess we are. That's the answer for the decline.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

The time is tight, so if you can give a very quick answer, we'll move on to the next questioner.

[Gus Etchegary]

The next question is with respect to the $400 million.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

But very quickly, please.

[Gus Etchegary]

We don't have a clue as to where the $400 million is going to be spent. We do know that the trade department issued a press release about six weeks ago saying that the $280 million that the Treasury is going to cut a cheque for is going to compensate Newfoundlanders for the loss of jobs.

That simply confirms what we're saying to you. I don't know whether you're aware of it, but that's exactly what the trade department is saying: it's compensation for job loss.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

We'll move on to the next questioner. You may be able to answer that more fully as we move along.

Mr. Cannan, seven minutes.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank to our witnesses. It was a pleasure meeting you last night, and thanks for your testimony today.

Your Worship, Mr. Savage, it's always good to see you. We used to share the hallway in the Confederation Building. Your office is still empty, so maybe we'll see you back down there one day again.

[Mike Savage]

I understand it's been turned into a shrine.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

There you go—a mausoleum, yes.

You're always welcome to come back for a visit, but I appreciate the great work you're doing for your local government. I had the pleasure of serving nine years as a city councillor for the City of Kelowna. I know the importance of local government, of working together in a non-partisan way, including what we're trying to do here as far as better opportunities are concerned, not only for your municipality but also municipalities across the country.

I just wondered if you could share for a moment the relationship between the Greater Halifax Partnership and the Halifax Gateway Council.

[Mike Savage]

I'll let Fred answer that question.

[Fred Morley]

The Halifax Gateway Council is housed within the Greater Halifax Partnership. We manage the council on behalf of the gateway partners: the port, the airport, railway, other partners.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Do you have a chamber of commerce as well that's within that partnership?

[Fred Morley]

No, the chamber is not part of that.

[Mike Savage]

We have a chamber of commerce, but—

[Fred Morley]

We do have a chamber of commerce, but they're not part of our organization.