Evidence of meeting #5 for International Trade in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was agreement.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
On a point of order, Madam Chair, I believe this witness is from the United Steelworkers, and we seem to be asking specific technical questions about aluminum, which is another product.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
He has his time. As long as he is respectful of our guest, he's free to ask.
Executive Assistant to the National Director, United Steelworkers
I'd like to clarify something, if I may. We represent the vast majority of unionized aluminum workers, so not just steelworkers.
Executive Assistant to the National Director, United Steelworkers
All aluminum plants are run by multinationals. They make the investment decisions, so they invest in countries with guaranteed market access. The problem, as we see it, is that the agreement before us today doesn't do enough to guarantee them a market, especially in Mexico and in the United States.
February 18th, 2020 / 4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Conservative
Michael Kram Conservative Regina—Wascana, SK
Thank you, Richard.
Thank you to the members of the United Steelworkers for being here today. I'm particularly glad to see you here because my home city of Regina, Saskatchewan, is home to Evraz steel and United Steelworkers local 5890. I'm glad to be able to represent them here and to hear from you as well.
With regard to pipelines, can the two of you speak a little about the importance of pipelines to your members, in particular for their job security?
National Director for Canada, National Office, United Steelworkers
I can tell you that it's always been an issue. The fact of the matter is.... I think you may be referring to some recent events when people in Saskatchewan were complaining about the pipeline. With the United Steelworkers, our position is very clear. Any pipe that's going to be laid is built by our members. We just came out of a national policy conference in Vancouver where our members from across the country unanimously adopted a motion stating that where pipelines are be built, they will use Canadian/North American products.
You have the pipelines that are being built in the United States. One of the things we ask for in steel projects is that we make sure in procurement situations that it's North American steel, not Japanese steel or Indian steel. It's the same thing for bridges or any of those things that are taking place. We expect this for any of those products that we have the ability to make. I look at our colleagues up in the Soo. The fact is that we have a bridge that's going to be built up in British Columbia—the Pattullo Bridge—and I'm hoping that our colleagues get the contract for that.
It's no different from pipelines. We are very much on record. The fact is that with any pipelines being built they use the products of Canadian steel. I know very well the facility in Regina that you're talking about.
Conservative
Michael Kram Conservative Regina—Wascana, SK
Okay. Very good.
Given the extreme difficulty in recent years in getting pipelines approved and built in Canada, do you see any opportunities under the new NAFTA to get pipelines built in the United States with steel built by your members?
Executive Assistant to the National Director, United Steelworkers
I'm not sure this agreement is going to have much effect on U.S. energy projects, but as Ken said, our position is clear that those projects should be built using North American steel.
To your point, I think a healthy energy sector has enormous downstream effects for the broader Canadian economy, including for our members, who make not just pipelines but pipe used for pipelines, as they do at Evraz steel, and also for the broader range of energy tubular goods that are made at facilities such as Tenaris in Sault Ste. Marie or Calgary.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses who are here today to make a very positive and constructive contribution to this important agreement.
My question is for the Canadian Labour Congress.
President Yussuff, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was here this morning and was asked a question about how this agreement is going to promote gender equality when it comes to minorities. She mentioned that this is protected under the labour chapter. Could you comment on that if you have knowledge about it and how this agreement is going to deal with that situation?
President, Canadian Labour Congress
The chapter speaks to harassment and gender violence in the workplace. Of course, the agreement itself has an impact, if it's in force, to prevent that from happening. Of course, these are the same obligations that we know of in our own country. The human rights code can, if it's in force, prevent harassment and violence from happening in the workplace.
As we know, workers in Mexico have faced a lot of violence, not just gender violence but simply violence when exercising their democratic right to choose their unions or, for that matter, to vote on a collective agreement. We hope the provisions in this agreement, if they're enforceable, would bring an end to that, but at the end of the day, it obviously will require efforts to change the practice that we know exists in Mexico. More importantly, of course, it will require all three countries to live up to the obligations that are stated in the agreement in regard to the new enforceable labour chapter that we had hoped could have teeth. If a country chooses not to do so, there also are provisions to impose sanctions on that country for not living up to their obligations as stated in the agreement.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you.
I have a question for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
You mentioned that previously when the NAFTA was signed, the cattle industry skyrocketed. The CPTPP helped a lot as well, and this is going to help. Could you tell me the dollar figure or the percentage of trade that you see being of benefit when it comes to the cattle industry?
Manager, Environment and Sustainability, Canadian Cattlemen's Association
First, in the North American market, our push for ratification is really tied to a stable North American market. Certainly, the number of free trade agreements that have been developed over the last number of years has really led to the strong demand we're seeing today in the international market. Of course, for us, our biggest customer is the United States, and Mexico follows not far after that, so stability is really key to two of our biggest customers.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Does it matter whether it's eastern Canada or western Canada, or is it going to help from coast to coast to coast?
Manager, Environment and Sustainability, Canadian Cattlemen's Association
It's going to help farmers and ranchers right from coast to coast.
Liberal
Manager, Environment and Sustainability, Canadian Cattlemen's Association
Yes, there are ranches in B.C. as well.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Good afternoon all. Thank you for being here today.
CUSMA is very important to a big riding like mine, which is home not just to farmers, but also to steel and aluminum workers.
I'm a welder by trade. I spent more than 26 years in the steel industry. My brother is a top employer in the steel sector in my region. All that to say how important and historic this agreement is to my family and to the government.
Mr. Neumann, you've often mentioned the steel and aluminum sectors in the same sentence. If we set aside the aluminum industry for a moment, can we agree today on the fact that people in the steel industry are quite pleased with CUSMA?
