Evidence of meeting #100 for International Trade in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cptpp.
A video is available from Parliament.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair I'm happy to answer, if I can have a chance to answer.
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Do you want me to answer, Chair, or to just listen to the question?
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
9:50 a.m.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
What I was saying is that we have consulted widely through the 40,000 or 50,000 feedback interactions we received from Canadians.
We are committed to the first nations. The Prime Minister yesterday made it very clear. I understand that at this committee as well, as I read in the report just yesterday, they had an opportunity to give feedback. We will continue to engage, because they're an important part of our Canada, and we want to make sure that these trade agreements work for everyone.
You can ask the first nations that I've been talking to about potentially having a first nations trade mission in the world. I engage with them to make sure that they would have access to these trade markets and that we could open new markets for them.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
I'll have to take that as a no.
The question I have for you now is about a study commissioned by Global Affairs Canada and conducted by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. They came up with a really startling number about trade with China. They found that trade with China was responsible for the loss of 105,000 manufacturing jobs in Canada between 2001 and 2011. Is this a concern to your department?
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I'm sure Ms. Ramsay would be happy, Mr. Chair, that we're not rushing into anything when it comes to China. We are taking our time. As I said, we are doing that with our eyes wide open. We're consulting with nations that already have free trade agreements with China, understanding that tariffs may come down and understanding what the non-tariff trade barriers are. Some members mentioned state-owned enterprises.
We have the best team on the ground for making sure that we understand all of that. That's why, Mr. Chair, we did not rush the last time we were in Beijing. There were some reports about that, and we said, “No, we want to make sure that we start on a strong footing and that both sides understand what we want to discuss.” The progressive elements are important. We're going to do it on our timetable. It's certainly in line with Canadian values.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
If I could intercede for just a minute, Mr. Chair, the minister did say that he has a plan for addressing marijuana, that the government has a plan for that, and I was just wondering if he could provide it to the committee, because we have less than five months and Canadian business needs certainty.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
I think the minister and his staff heard the question. We'll leave it at that.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I'm sure the members will see that Canada has a plan to deal with marijuana.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
We'll leave it there.
We've had a very active meeting this morning. Thank you very much, Minister.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
You always make time to come here. Let's keep going.
We're going to suspend for a couple of minutes to go in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]