International Trade Committee on April 4th, 2022

[Andriy Shevchenko]

I just would like to underscore the importance of the food security aspect of the situation. It's not just about the food security situation in Ukraine. Ukraine has been a player on the global market, and we already understand that there will be customers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America who will suffer from these broken chains of commerce.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you.

Considering that many Canadian companies are voluntarily pulling their operations and products from Russia right now, do you believe that this is an indicator that Canadian companies that continue to operate or fulfill contracts in Russia will see negative reactions from Canadian consumers, which will negatively impact their bottom lines?

Maybe I'll ask Mr. Agnew to answer that.

[Mark Agnew]

Yes, and I think if you look at the companies that have pulled out of the Russian market proactively, doing that has certainly been in response to not only the risk and inability to get paid but also, I think, the pressure and the expectations from their investors and their consumers. You would have seen that particularly in the early days, when a number of large, well-known multinational brands were beginning to withdraw from the market.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Would you say that generally Canadian consumers and companies have been supportive of the way the Government of Canada has responded to the unjust invasion and attack on Ukraine?

[Mark Agnew]

Yes, I would say that on the whole there has been a fairly broad-based support in the business community for the sanction measures that Canada and its allies have taken.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Shevchenko, do you have any additional comments on that?

[Andriy Shevchenko]

I think we greatly appreciate these steps, both those that were initiated by governments and those that were kind of grassroots. In the 21st century, in good countries, governments do what the public wants them to do. It goes a very long way for us to see how widely the public has reacted to the events in Ukraine. We are grateful to Canadians who care about events in Ukraine and for their support for us.

Again, with the businesses, we greatly appreciate it, and I think they just follow the mood, follow the intention and follow the passion that the wider public has.

Thank you for that.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Miao.

We now go to Mr. Lewis for five minutes, please.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you to all the witnesses this afternoon for your testimony. We certainly appreciate it.

I have just four questions, Madam Chair, and I want to say to Mr. Shevchenko, as did my colleague, Mr. Virani, earlier on, that our hearts are definitely with you all.

Mr. Shevchenko, you mentioned earlier on that of your labour force, 82% or 89%—and if my numbers are a little off here, I apologize—was still retained, but I believe it to be true that about 4.5 or so million Ukrainians have fled and, quite frankly, I don't blame them.

I wonder, Mr. Shevchenko, how has that affected the labour force in Ukraine?

[Andriy Shevchenko]

It has affected it dramatically. The specific number, 89%, was for one sector, which is IT or ICT, and that just tells you that we cherish our good IT specialists with their laptops just as much as our brave warriors with their weapons. When it comes to the labour market in general, at the moment, up to 15 million Ukrainians out of 47 million have had to change their location. It's the biggest relocation of citizens in such a short time in the history of Europe. There has been nothing in the history of the continent on this scale. Think about 15 million Ukrainians having to change their location.

Having said that, there are so many Ukrainians who, even under these circumstances, are trying to do their work, no matter where they are at that moment. When you look at the Ukrainians who have had to flee abroad, they try to be useful there. They try to find jobs, and it's a very good example of how to behave in such a situation.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you very much for the clarification on the numbers, Mr. Shevchenko.

Back to you, sir, through you, Madam Chair, I'm just curious, then, with regard to grain. Understanding that Ukraine is somewhat of a bread basket, as is Canada, for the world's food supply, and just to stay on that line of questioning, what about the farmers, then? If they're fleeing, how is grain being produced and what about the labour market on your farms?

[Andriy Shevchenko]

The farmers who are in the territories occupied by the Russians cannot do anything right now. The same goes for the battlefields, but in other parts of the country, they have started their farming season. We want them to do that; it's very important.

If we talk about the food security situation, there has been a major destruction of Ukrainian and Russian crop production. Also, we should think about potash and that part of the food supply chain. I think it creates some new opportunities for Canada, and I think it's a major global challenge that we should think about together.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Shevchenko.

I have a final question, Madam Chair, through you to the witness.

I know farmers here in Canada are really feeling the pinch on fertilizers. If you can get it, you're paying a whole bunch more money. I'm just curious, sir: What about fertilizers for your farmers? What about just the grain to plant the fields? What does that look like, and what can we do to help?

[Andriy Shevchenko]

It is a major challenge in this part of the world. A lot of fertilizers and potash have been coming from Russia and from Belarus. That is not a market we would like to buy anything from right now.

It is a challenge; it is a global challenge and again, I think it's one of the fields where Canada can be a very important voice.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you, Mr. Lewis.

We'll move on to Ms. Dhillon, please, for five minutes.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for Mr. Agnew.

How can the Government of Canada support other countries, and their industries, that have been affected by the sanctions against Russia?

In terms of industries that exported to Russia, can you give us examples of ones that Canadian companies could provide with goods and services to support Ukraine?

[Mark Agnew]

I think the most straightforward answer would be, actually, in our natural resources sector. We have, certainly, a wealth of resources in the oil and gas industry, as well as critical mineral products. Those strike me as being two areas where Canada should look to step up to the plate. Neither of them is a short-term solution. We need better infrastructure to get these products to market, but that would be an area that I would urge prioritization for, coming out of this conflict.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Bouchard, my next question is for you.

I gather you are having problems because of the sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of its attack on Ukraine.

What other countries do you do business in?

Have the sanctions affected your business in other countries?

Which sanctions have been the most problematic for your company?

I hope you'll be able to answer all three of those questions.

[Louis Bouchard]

As I mentioned, STAS is an international company. We do business in more than 40 countries. The sanctions against Russia affected us immediately. This is the second time that STAS has been affected by a sanctions regime. The first time was in 2018, when sanctions targeted the big boss of Rusal, Oleg Deripaska, a known oligarch. [Technical difficulty—Editor] the sanctions do not impact the metal mining industry and Mr. Deripaska.

[Technical difficulty—Editor] In metal mining, we often operate in countries whose political systems differ from ours, including Saudi Arabia, countries in the Mideast and China, so we are used to dealing with those types of issues.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the international community, including Canada, the United States and the European Union, have imposed sanctions on Russia. Some analysts describe the sanctions as the most comprehensive set of multilateral economic sanctions imposed on a major global economy.

Can you tell us why it's important for the economic sanctions to be multilateral and how that makes them more effective?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Who would you like to answer that question, Ms. Dhillon?

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

The question was for Mr. Bouchard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Bouchard, are you still with us?