Evidence of meeting #37 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 question.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:15 p.m.
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
Yes, that has been highlighted here. Essentially the rules that are around the temporary foreign workers don't exist in here. That's the concern. But the labour certification test for the workers—
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Ms. Ramsey, you time is up.
If you have a quick answer to this go ahead.
12:15 p.m.
Deputy Director, Services Trade Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I think the quick answer is that the business...we're talking about the business visitor category.
12:15 p.m.
Deputy Director, Services Trade Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Okay. I apologize, because “business visitor” is one of four categories.
12:15 p.m.
NDP
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
Yes, I said at the beginning all four. I just defined “business” because it's something that has been highlighted. Do all four categories require labour certification tests?
12:15 p.m.
Deputy Director, Services Trade Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
They do not. The labour certification test in this instance would be Canada's labour market impact assessment. This is not a testing of credentials or licensing requirements. The instance of labour certification tests is Canada's labour market opinion or numerical restrictions such as quotas.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Mark Eyking
Thank you.
Last, we're going to go to the Liberals. My understanding is that you're going to split your time. Go ahead, Mr. Dhaliwal.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you.
Again, to the Assistant Deputy Minister Hillman, you explained those worker issues very well. I'm going to be very explicit in asking you this question in layman's language.
Let's say someone is a professional engineer, geologist, architect, plumber, or electrician. If they want to come in and do not have the professional qualifications that the local professionals need, they will not be able to enter and work in Canada under the TPP, correct?
12:15 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Correct.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Okay. That's good.
The second question relates to what Mr. Hoback was talking about. We are hearing that it was not an open process and that you were not consulting. I'm only going to focus on the organizations that are fighting for workers' rights, whether it's the labour unions or other organizations. Were they consulted when you put this together?
12:15 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Well, I'll go back to my answer before. Through the Canada Gazette process, they, like everybody, were able to submit their views and opinions. There were open public updates that I provided and that some of my leads provided on a regular basis, to which different labour organizations were also invited.
12:15 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Everybody was invited, to be frank. They were open.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Okay. If the TPP were to be ratified, how long would it take for the new procedures to be put in place?
12:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
If Canada were to ratify the TPP and all other 11 countries were to ratify the TPP within two years of the signature, which will be February 2018, then it could enter into force immediately.
12:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
But other than that, there is a formula. I think we've talked about that before. It's all 12 at the same time or it's eight and 85% of GDP.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you.
I'd like to discuss foreign workers more, because people spoke to us a lot about the topic. In fact, on the last day our committee was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the audience remarks period, a person representing Halifax electricians came to meet us.
Earlier, Mr. Dhaliwal spoke about plumbers, among others. Given the competency credentials needed in Canada, people would not be able to come in all that easily. Do I understand correctly?
12:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Foreign workers must have the same qualifications as ours in Canada.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Do the qualifications include language? Do the people need to be able to speak one of our official languages?
12:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I don't know the rules for each occupation or each sector. I don't have the knowledge to provide an answer on that. What is asked of Canadians is also asked of foreigners.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Okay.
With respect to free trade with Peru and Korea, you mentioned that not many workers benefited from the entry. Am I understanding correctly? If there's another round of negotiations after the U.S. presidential election, what changes would you want made to the agreement currently on the table?
12:20 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Agreements and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
That's not a question for me.