International Trade Committee on June 6th, 2022

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm calling to order meeting number 21 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021.

As per the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on March 10, 2022, all those attending the meeting in person must wear a mask, except for members who are at their place during proceedings.

I'd like to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, please click on your microphone icon to activate your mike, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For those participating via Zoom, you have interpretation options at the bottom of your screen of either the floor, English or French.

As a reminder to you, all comments have to go through the chair.

To all members, welcome to our Monday meeting.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, March 21, 2022, the committee is resuming its study on trade opportunities for Canadian businesses in the Indo-Pacific region.

Today we have with us, from the Embassy of Canada to the Philippines, His Excellency Peter MacArthur, ambassador; from the Embassy of Canada to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, His Excellency Shawn Steil, ambassador; from the High Commission to the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency Jean-Dominique Ieraci, high commissioner; and from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, Henry Chi-Hung Liu, executive director, economic division. Welcome to you all.

We will start with opening remarks from Ambassador MacArthur.

I invite you to make an opening statement of up to five minutes, please.

[His Excellency Peter MacArthur, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada to the Republic of the Philippines]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

This will be a transitional year for the Philippines. On June 30, the country's new president, vice-president, and many members of congress, will take office following the May 9 national elections.

At 110 million people, mainly young people, the Philippines is the second most populous country in the ASEAN region, and ranks seventh among the 21 APEC member economies. It stands out in terms of its geographic, geostrategic position, and as the world's third largest Catholic country.

The capital, Manila, is head office for the Asian Development Bank, a regional institution of which Canada is the fourth largest non-borrowing shareholder. ADB-financed projects represent business opportunities for Canadian firms operating across the Indo-Pacific.

We share strong people to people bonds not found with any other Southeast Asian country. The Philippines consistently ranks as a top three immigration source. There are an estimated one million Canadians of Filipino origin. Filipino migrants are crucial to Canada's labour market and economic prosperity. Canada is seen as an excellent host for overseas Filipino workers in sectors such as food processing and maritime shipping. They remit an estimated $2 billion Canadian back to Filipino families every year.

Helped by strong macroeconomic indicators and stable credit ratings, the Philippines is expected to emerge from the pandemic as one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. In 2019, GDP growth exceeded that of Indonesia and rivalled that of China. However, 2020 saw a 10% GDP contraction due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, GDP bounced back growth in 2021 and exceeded expectations at 5.6%. The economic outlook for 2022 is optimistic, as the ADB is forecasting growth at 6%. This has attracted the interest of some Canadian pension funds.

To increase competitiveness, a recent series of economic reform legislation has been passed, including corporate tax cuts, and steps to open up the economy in order to establish a more predictable business environment. At the same time, with the support of the Philippines, Canada and ASEAN launched FTA negotiations.

Despite the pandemic, the Canada-Philippine trade relationship continues to expand, standing at $3 billion, balanced roughly between $2 billion in merchandise trade and $1 billion in services trade. Canadian direct investment in the Philippines is more than $3 billion Canadian, led by a longstanding market presence in the insurance and business processing sectors, as well as in mining, software, engineering and food sectors.

Canada and the Philippines recently established a joint economic commission. The commission, which will include the voice of business through chambers of commerce, is going to provide a platform to foster closer business relationships in sectors where demand matches our competitive niches, such as within the aerospace sector, including the building of business aircraft and training simulators together with maintenance, repair, and overhaul.

Moreover, with regard to agriculture, the Philippines is Canada's second largest market in the region for products such as meat, pulses, oilseeds, grains, fish and seafood, animal feed ingredients, as well as processed food. Market access issues, particularly affecting agri-food exports, are an obstacle, necessitating constant vigilance and high level intervention by the embassy and the Government of Canada.

In clean technologies, there are key opportunities, including renewable energy and emerging interests in nuclear power. With regard to climate finance, there is early retirement of coal plants as an example of climate change interventions.

In defence and security, there is continued military equipment modernization, particularly air and sea capacity, due to increased South China Sea security concerns.

In infrastructure, Canada has just launched a new government-to-government initiative to help our industry penetrate this market, leveraging Canadian Commercial Corporation, and working closely with the trade commissioner service and Export Development Canada.

In information and communications technology, as an example of our embassy efforts, we are sending a Filipino business delegation to the Collision conference in Toronto later this June. It is composed of 45 Filipino venture capitalists, investors, and tech buyers interested in subsectors, such as medtech, fintech, and cybersecurity. Creative industries and edtech sectors are also promising.

Mining is back in business with the lifting of the open pit mining ban in an effort to source critical minerals. Canada's towards sustainable mining CSR protocols are expected to be adopted by leading mining producers, and will be required to be more environmentally and socially responsible.

In education, in 2021, the Philippines moved up to become our fourth source of foreign students, benefiting colleges and universities right across our country. We saw a doubling in two years to more than 14,000 students right across Canada.

There remain challenges and risks, such as lack of transparency, corruption, intellectual property violations, an inefficient court system, protectionism, and susceptibility to political interference. Competition from other countries is fierce.

Finally, on the job-creating, investment-in-Canada front, I can report that Jollibee, the Philippines' most prominent fast-food chain and Asia's largest food service company, has opened more than 20 restaurants right across Canada. Each restaurant is estimated to create approximately 80 to 120 jobs and approximately $2.2 million in capital expenditures.

Madam Chair, that completes my opening statement.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Ambassador.

We now go to Ambassador Steil, please, for five minutes.

[His Excellency Shawn Steil, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I reported for duty as Canada's Ambassador to Vietnam on May 3 and presented my credentials on May 26. I come to this position after more than four years as executive director for Greater China, an experience that offers an important perspective on Vietnam and its region.

After a difficult two years of pandemic restrictions, and thanks to a remarkably successful vaccine campaign, Vietnam is leading economic recovery in the region. Over the short one month since I arrived in Hanoi, economic and social activity, including international travel and business, has accelerated at a remarkable pace. The successful hosting of the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi last month exemplified this rapid opening.

Economic and industrial indicators suggest that this country of almost 100 million people is poised to accelerate its growth in the near term even under difficult external conditions. Canadians, recognizing the opportunity and the need to diversify from difficult and unpredictable markets in the region, are responding.

I have already met a number of Canadian firms and institutions on the ground setting a common refrain: Vietnam is our best option for diversifying and we want to be first back in the market.

That shouldn't surprise us. Vietnam is Canada's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, the 10th largest in the world. Since the conclusion of the CPTPP, bilateral trade is booming, reaching $10.5 billion in two-way trade in 2021 despite the pandemic. While most of that recent growth has been in Vietnamese exports, they do pave the way for a maturing trade relationship with many opportunities for Canada.

In the agriculture and agri-food sector, including seafood, a growing middle class is driving demand for high-quality foods and the CPTPP has levelled the playing field for Canadian suppliers. Canadian meat exports in particular have grown fourfold since the agreement came into effect in 2019.

Vietnam is a country that's among the world's most vulnerable to climate change. At COP26 the Government of Vietnam surprised many by committing to net neutrality by 2050. Its growing industry and energy demands make this commitment an enormous challenge, and an opportunity for Canada and Canadian businesses to provide clean technology and clean energy solutions.

Vietnam is also one of Canada's most important sources of international students. Education exchanges are rebounding quickly, and Canadian institutions see opportunities to grow both partnerships and student enrolment with Vietnam.

Canadian firms have a significant presence in Vietnam's insurance sector with major Canadian firms active and growing in the market.

Opportunities in aerospace, life sciences, health care and ICT are abundant and on the rise.

In January 2022 Canada and Vietnam established a joint economic committee, a mechanism dedicated to advancing trade and economic co-operation between Canada and Vietnam. Meetings of this committee will provide an ongoing opportunity to discuss current and emerging trade and commercial issues, and help unlock further potential.

Canada's commercial relationship with Vietnam is nested in and benefits from Canada's broader engagement in the country. In keeping with the comprehensive partnership launched in 2017, Canada's engagement with Vietnam has grown across the board. We now have established formal exchanges in diplomacy and foreign policy, events and security, international co-operation with Canadian contributions to inclusive growth, climate change solutions, and regulatory affairs.

Our Embassy in Hanoi and consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City are home to 110 employees from multiple government agencies, as well as provincial representatives. We anticipate continuing growth to match the demands and meet the opportunities for Canadian business in Vietnam.

Vietnam is a one-party state with significant government involvement in decision-making over the economy. According to the World Bank, achieving its ambitious goal of reaching high-income status by 2050 will require further opening and institutional reform. Engagement at the government-to-government level across the range of tools at our disposal will be important for Canada's continued success in this vibrant market now and over the long term.

In 2023 Canada and Vietnam will mark 50 years of diplomatic relations well positioned for further co-operation based on our common interests.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Ambassador.

We go now to High Commissioner Ieraci, please, for up to five minutes.

[His Excellency Jean-Dominique Ieraci, High Commissioner, High Commission for the Republic of Singapore]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair.

Singapore is one of the countries most open to trade in the world. This developed and politically stable country of 5.4 million people serves as a hub for regional trade thanks to its first-class infrastructure. Its city-state is the main regional financial centre. It is easy to do business here, as the rules are clear and the rule of law prevails. The common language is English.

All these features contribute to the fact that many Canadian companies have made Singapore their primary market in Southeast Asia. It’s also the main focus of their operations in the region.

Since Singapore is a trade hub and part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, there are essentially no barriers to entry for Canadian products and services. Despite the modest size of its market, Singapore offers significant business opportunities for Canada because of the average wealth of its citizens and its appetite for adopting new technologies. Also, with no natural resources and very limited space, Singapore must import virtually all its food and energy.

Finally, foreign multinationals’ top regional executives are based in Singapore, where they often make their purchasing decisions for their Southeast Asian operations.

The pandemic did not spare Singapore, but its economy has already rebounded in 2021 with gross domestic product growth of 7.6%. In 2021, Canada exported $1.2 billion worth of goods to Singapore and imported $1 billion. Canada exports nearly $1 billion more in services and imports $2.6 billion. In Southeast Asia, Singapore is the largest investor in Canada and the largest recipient of Canadian investment in the region.

The Canadian High Commission in Singapore has 85 employees from several government departments, including representatives from British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Export Development Canada, or EDC, and Quebec both have independent offices there.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Singapore focuses on agriculture, information technology, education, aerospace, life sciences and sustainable technologies. We also administer a technology accelerator, a mentorship program and an investment attraction program. Singapore hosts major business events, including last week’s Asia Tech x Singapore, the Singapore Airshow, the FinTech Festival and Singapore International Water Week. We organize hundreds of business matches with Singaporean and regional contacts through these activities.

For example, Minister Ng visited us on May 24 and 25. One of the things she announced was Canada’s intention to launch a design study for a gateway to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and take advantage of Singapore’s hub status.

Madam Chair, I thank you and the committee for your attention to the region and to Singapore.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, sir.

Now we will move on to Mr. Liu, for Taipei culture and economic development.

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu, Executive Director, Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada]

Honourable Chair and distinguished members of the committee, good afternoon.

My name is Henry Liu, and I am the executive director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, based in Ottawa. We welcome this timely study, which will contribute to enhancing Canada's ties with the Indo-Pacific regions, including Taiwan.

The bilateral economic relation between Taiwan and Canada is growing strongly. According to Statistics Canada, our two-way trade surpassed $10 billion Canadian in 2021, growing by 39% compared with 2020. This ranks Taiwan as Canada's fifth-largest trading partner in Asia. Taiwan is also Canada's 16th-largest export market globally.

The Indo-Pacific region will be the engine of global economic growth. Thus, a commitment to closer engagement with Indo-Pacific partners is more relevant than ever. Canada has initiated an Indo-Pacific strategy, while Taiwan has launched its new southbound policy to boost its ties with the countries of South and Southeast Asia. These two policies are quite complementary and will open new avenues of co-operation.

Taiwan's long-standing partnership with Canada is critical to our mutual objectives and shared interests, including our efforts to work with like-minded partners to safeguard freedom, democracy and human rights, as well as to stimulate inclusive prosperity through economic co-operation and trade in the Indo-Pacific region.

We can strengthen this synergy by providing our economic operators a set of more transparent, predictable and facilitating trade and investment rules. On January 10, 2022, our trade ministers agreed to begin exploratory discussions as a first step toward potential negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement, known here as FIPA. We hope that Taiwan and Canada can fully launch negotiations on a FIPA soon.

Taiwan is the world's 18th-largest importing country, with 23 million consumers of high purchasing power. Canada can benefit a lot from more favourable market access into the Taiwanese market. Taiwan officially submitted its accession application to the CPTPP last September. Taiwan is committed to upholding the high standards of the CPTPP. We respectfully request Canada's support for Taiwan's accession application.

Taiwan's CPTPP membership and FIPA with Canada will help increase regional economic momentum and bring Taiwan-Canada trade relations to the next level. In this era of geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain realignments, Canada and Taiwan can work together to increase their supply chain resilience.

Canada has long been a reliable and secure source of quality agricultural products for Taiwan, bringing our consumers more diverse choices and enhancing our food security. In addition, Canada's budget 2022 proposed up to $3.8 billion in support over eight years to implement Canada's first critical mineral strategy. Already, Taiwan's increasing demand of critical minerals has attracted more imports from reliable sources, including Canada.

Canadian exports of cobalt to Taiwan grew 186% in 2021, compared to the year before. The Canadian cobalt market share in Taiwan increased from 3% in 2012 to 25% in 2021. Taiwan wishes to expand its relationship with Canada as a close friend, democratic partner and trusted ally. We look forward to continued engagement with our Canadian partners to sustain and strengthen our bilateral relations.

Thank you very much for inviting me today. I will be happy to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Liu and all of our witnesses.

We'll go to Mr. Lewis for six minutes.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses. The testimony today was very in-depth, and we have a lot of work to do, no doubt.

Madam Chair, through you to Mr. Liu, my first question—and probably the most important one, at least for my riding of Essex—is about microchips, sir. I believe it to be true that Taiwan is the largest producer of microchips in the world. Man, oh man, could we ever use a bunch of microchips to get our vehicles on the road.

I'm wondering what we can do, what studies we should be going after and what we could do as a country.... Perhaps it's the critical minerals that you were speaking to. How can Canada help Taiwan, so that we can get those very necessary microchips to our soil in order to keep our auto industry moving?

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu]

Thank you for the question.

I think this is a very important question, especially when Canada is going forward in its EV industry, electric vehicles. There will be more microchips in your cars, which means the demand for microchips will keep on going. Also, at the same time, the supply chain of microchips is very long and complicated.

I will say there is a lot of opportunity for Taiwan and Canada to work together. For example, the largest company from Taiwan, TSMC, already has a design centre in Canada. That's in addition to the U.S. This is the only one on the American continent.

I have visited the research centre and asked the same questions as you. I was told, first, that Canada and Taiwan can have a lot of mutual support. For example, when you are moving into the next stage, you want to incorporate more technology into the microchips so they will be multi-tasking. For example, Canada is very good in AI, but how do you incorporate AI into the chips? That will be very important. That will be the determining factor of your competitiveness. In this case, I would say the software engineers should work directly with the Taiwanese chipmakers. In this way, there's no need to go through very complicated and different layers of suppliers. In that case, you can have your design already embedded in these microchips, which means that Taiwan can provide the microchips which are really reflecting Canadian technology and making sure you have the leading edge.

Thank you.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, sir.

Madam Chair, through you back to the same witness, please, when we talk about containers, I understand it also would be true that Taiwan is one of the biggest suppliers of containers. We can have all the microchips in the world, but if we can't get them across our oceans back to Canada, it's not going to do us a whole lot of good. I only make that as a statement, because I realize there's a major shortage of containers across the world, something that I would have never thought I would have seen in my lifetime.

Madam Chair, through you, I understand also that the paperwork, administration and red tape is challenging. Can you please expand on the challenges that are slowing down the supply chain between Taiwan and Canada, sir?

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu]

All right.

First, I still want to reply to the question on containers. As far as I know, there's no container shipments of microchips. Microchips have to use air freight. That's why during this pandemic Taiwan is really doing well. Even in the year 2020, we still have continued economic growth, because we still keep this air freight going smoothly.

Regarding the supply chain bottleneck, even though we do have a very strong sea transportation capability, the problems happen at the destination. That's the thing we cannot do very much about. We have been receiving requests from our colleagues on how to improve this phenomenon. I will say that we can only watch how our trading partners solve their problems. In the meantime, I do encourage Canadians to engage in more discussions on paperless trading or on customs co-operation, so that we can really go to the next level, to make sure we can reduce the bureaucracy, as you mentioned, for the traders, which is really important.

Thank you.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, sir.

Madam Chair, back through you to the witness, perhaps you will keep it within about one minute please, sir, as I have two more questions left, both of which are important.

First, as China continues to flex its muscles in Taiwan—let's call a spade a spade, it's happening—what can Canada do to help?

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu]

In my statement I already said that I think Canada is a country that should be friends with everybody, but you should stand also on the side of righteousness, which means that I think there should be no hesitation to engage Taiwan economically. For example under FIPA or under the CPTPP, I think this is the way that Canada should act as a model to support the high levels of trade liberalizations and encourage Taiwan to be a part of those agreements. I think this will be the best way to show that Canada has its core values in its trade policy.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you very much.

I know I only have about 30 seconds left.

Very quickly, Madam Chair, through you back to the witness, I just want to make a statement that I understand to be very true. Canada represents only about 1% of Taiwan's global trade. With Taiwan being a partner in CPTPP, what percentage do you think that could grow by, sir?

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu]

That's a fairly big ask. Let me take the examples from New Zealand. When we had the first free trade agreements, we had an agreement with a country that exported a lot of agriculture products. But still, the negotiating outcome is that Taiwan liberalized the markets 99.5%, which means that there were a lot of sensitive products that we liberalized for trade, for example, deer velvet. Maybe you don't know the product very well. We do use that product, and the tariff rate is more than 1,000%. We have liberalized those products just in recent years, with no tariff at all.

This represents our determination to be a free trade country, because we do think this is a long-term benefit for Taiwan and our trading partners. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We'll now have Mr. Virani, please, for six minutes.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

This is my first time taking the mike today, and I just want to acknowledge for the record that today is the one year anniversary of the death of the Afzaal family in London, which is a matter of concern to all members of Parliament. There are commemorations taking place not just to think about that family and that loss, but also to take action on Islamophobia.

That said, I want to say thank you to all of the witnesses for being here, those who are present, Mr. Liu, and those joining us virtually.

I want to start perhaps with Mr. Shawn Steil, the ambassador to Vietnam, and just touch upon something that he mentioned. I seized upon it when you indicated that it was with some surprise that the international community noted that Vietnam had made that commitment at COP to achieve net zero by 2050. Obviously there are a lot of synergies there between our government's position on net zero, tackling climate change, and what Vietnam is embracing.

Can you talk to us a little bit about solar in particular? We're conscious of the fact that Vietnam is the second largest producer of the solar photovoltaic module. The Canadian share of electricity production for rewnewables has risen during the last decade. Where can we tap into that commonality of purpose and interest using Vietnamese technological know-how to leverage further aspects of our trade in the renewable sector?

Go ahead, Ambassador Steil.

[Shawn Steil]

Indeed, Vietnam has accelerated not only its production of photovoltaics but also its implementation of clean energies. It's a country that's still very much reliant on coal. That's one area where Canada has begun to do really good work with Vietnam, helping to phase out coal.

While they've made great strides in both wind and solar implementation, coal use continues to rise, so the commitment that the prime minister made at COP26 to be at net zero by 2050 surprised many because of this growth in coal. The estimates are that not only does Vietnam need to phase out of coal and replace that energy source with something else, but their demand for energy is growing at least 10% year year on year. There's a huge demand for energy infrastructure and energy generation.

I would note here that we already have a leg in. Given that we have a comprehensive relationship with Vietnam, we've been working through the ADB, the Asian Development Bank. We've implemented a pilot project for offshore solar, which is really exciting.

With these ins and already having a way to work with Vietnam on solar energy, I think the next step would be to look at that supply chain. Certainly I know from my past experience that supply chains for photovoltaics and solar power are fraught, and forced labour can be an issue in those supply chains. Working with Vietnam to transfer some of that investment and linkage from countries like China to Vietnam is already happening and something that we can facilitate.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

On that point, I would just say that it was critical that we put our governmental support behind the forced labour bill that just came out of the Senate, Bill S-211. We've also committed to dealing with forced labour in supply chains as part of Minister O'Regan's mandate letter, and also power—namely coal, as you noted—is something that we've been working on for the last three or four years.

If I could just pivot to something, I'll ask both you, Ambassador Steil, and you, Mr. Liu, if you could comment.

You raised, Ambassador Steil, the point that international students are an aspect of our engagement across borders.

Mr. Liu, you addressed it slightly differently, but you said that we can leverage Canadian software know-how and our engineering and AI expertise to develop the relationship with Taiwan. I immediately thought of Waterloo engineers, for example, near my hometown of Toronto.

Could both of you take a turn at addressing how we leverage ties between our educational institutions and our students as an aspect of trade and how that can turn into more positive trade developments?

Perhaps we'll have Ambassador Steil first, and then Mr. Liu.

[Shawn Steil]

Indeed, Madam Chair, with Vietnam, our education exchange started through student improvement. The high demand for high-quality education in Canada has driven a large number of Vietnamese students to Canada. In fact, prepandemic, Vietnamese students were the third-largest source of international students to Canada. That has tapered off a bit with the pandemic. I think they now rank fifth as a source.

What has kind of lagged behind that—although I think it's typical that relationships in education start with the student recruitment—are the partnerships between institutions. One thing we will need to look at a little more is how we promote institutions and institutional linkages, not just in terms of student recruitment, but in terms of research partnerships and linkages that way. My colleague from Taiwan can speak more about the experience for Taiwan, because I know that those linkages are already very strong in Taiwan.

[Henry Chi-Hung Liu]

Thank you for the question. I will answer it in two prongs.

One is that language education is really important as the first step, for Canadian talent to know Taiwan better and for Taiwan to have more exposure in Canada. Our government has announced that Taiwan will be a bilingual country in 2030. In fact, at this moment, in the Canadian office in Taipei, they are very much engaged with the school in Taiwan. I believe they have signed about 30 MOUs so that the Canadians on campus will provide long-distance education, and in the future I believe there will be a physical exchange of students. We hope that Canada will be one of the important sources of English teachers for training for our language skills.

The second is on the software talents. In fact, we have been promoting very heavily the “Contact Taiwan” initiative, which we are talking about with different universities. Hopefully, your young people would like to work in Taiwan and to learn the different fields of manufacturing. Perhaps there we could have more people-to-people engagement.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We have Mr. Savard-Tremblay for six minutes, please.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I welcome all the witnesses and thank them for giving us their time today.

I also acknowledge my colleagues.

My first question is for Mr. MacArthur, Canada’s ambassador to the Philippines.

As part of this study, we heard witnesses from the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines. They expressed their concerns about the human rights situation there, particularly regarding abuses committed by mining companies. We know that 15% of mining in the Philippines is of Canadian origin and that six companies operate in the country.

How can we ensure that Canadian companies are not complicit in human rights abuses in the context of expanding trade with this region?