Evidence of meeting #106 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 air.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
No. There's one thing that works here, and it's the clock. It works very well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
We're going to move over to the Liberals.
Ms. Ludwig, you have the floor.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being here this morning.
I, too, am going to start off with my pitch to Air Canada. That's no surprise, because we've had this conversation before. Saint John direct to Ottawa, I'm just putting that out there.
Director, Federal Government Affairs and Ontario, Air Canada
I will take that back.
Liberal
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Mr. Lourenco, you mentioned that you will have direct services to Brazil and Argentina starting May 1. Are you anticipating full flights out and full flights back?
Director, Federal Government Affairs and Ontario, Air Canada
We are. I obviously can't share the information about our passenger volume. It's commercially sensitive. Our volumes on both the passenger and cargo sides are very strong and increasing year over year, so much so that I would add that we have dedicated two aircraft to Argentina and Santiago instead of connecting through both cities.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
In terms of the cargo route, when cargo is being shipped by air, are you familiar with the infrastructure on the ground to accommodate it? Let's say it's fresh cargo that can be perishable.
Director, Federal Government Affairs and Ontario, Air Canada
The infrastructure in Canada or in South America...?
Director, Federal Government Affairs and Ontario, Air Canada
There is probably about equal trade going to South America and to Canada. I think what we find is that most perishable items come into Canada where the infrastructure is very solid. I cannot speak in too much detail because I'm unfamiliar with the infrastructure for cargo in those airports, but I can tell you, if it wasn't adequate, we wouldn't be operating at the levels we are down there. I would say it's safe to assume that they're pretty strong.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you.
Mr. Hall, are you shipping direct or are you using agents and distributors on the ground?
Executive Director, Canadian Livestock Genetics Association
We use agents. My members use agents and distributors. Some of them go down directly. It just depends on the size of the organization and what resources they have. Then products ship directly from Canada to the destination.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
On Tuesday, Paul Lansbergen from the Fisheries Council of Canada commented on the concerns regarding sanitary and phytosanitary challenges. Do you find that as well?
Executive Director, Canadian Livestock Genetics Association
Yes, and that goes both ways: into those other countries and then back. I mentioned negotiations, certificates, and trade agreements. That's what that boils down to, just getting that done. Sometimes it takes forever for them to respond, but then, as I mentioned, with the lack of resources, Canada is headed the same way.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you for raising the lack of resources. We heard that earlier. We were consulting on TPP across Canada, and people were saying that there was a challenge in terms of not enough CFIA agents, even in terms of customs.
The next question I have is on intellectual property. How do you see the intellectual property on Canadian genetics being more secure?
Executive Director, Canadian Livestock Genetics Association
Again, that's back to private industry and enterprise. They do a lot of research and development, and then a lot of it's within the genomic world and working with genes. I think that's where most of the intellectual property and copyright items come from. We don't have big concerns with that down there. It hasn't been raised by my membership, anyway.
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Thank you.
In terms of the genetics in the industries that you're working within, do you have any familiarity with how much of their final end product is exported back to Canada?
Liberal
Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest, NB
What do you see in terms of poultry and dairy exports from Brazil and Argentina back to Canada?
Executive Director, Canadian Livestock Genetics Association
I don't really know what they do. As Canada, we have a limited market, so access back for dairy product is probably around 5% or so. But on the other side of the coin, the genetics usually doesn't come back to Canada just because we are world leaders. I can say that confidently. Between the United States and Canada, we set the pace around the world for genetics, so the odds of their exporting back to us are very rare, unless they have a remarkable animal that has been identified through genomic testing.
The other thing that might come back a bit is some of those indigenous breeds that are common within Brazil and places like that. They will be crossbred with some of the Canadian Holsteins, allowing a different type of animal to be brought back to them that would be a little hardier. But there's very little coming back.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Good.
We're moving over to the NDP now. Madam Ramsey, you have the floor.