International Trade Committee on Feb. 6th, 2024

[Maxime Lavoie]

Yes. There are labour shortages in every trade. It's hard to recruit and retain staff.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Perron, I just want to ask you about Quebec. We've heard, at least in conversations that I've had here, about some exciting news in Quebec, about more tech industry, battery plants and hydrogen. They need skilled labour, but I'm just wondering if there are supply chain issues in those enterprises. Are there issues getting the materials needed for them and being able to supply materials to other parts of the supply chain? Are there any specific stories that you have about supply chain problems in the high-tech sector?

[Sony Perron]

I would say that the story we have is much more related to the pandemic and the end of the pandemic. We are getting back to normal.

What I was trying to say earlier is about automation and the right systems in the company. Small and medium-sized businesses sometimes do not have the capacity to build a resource management system. We need to equip them with these tools so that they can connect with the rest of the supply chain and be in a real-time exchange of information and able to leverage their partnership in Canada, Quebec and elsewhere in the world in order to balance their operation.

This is where technology and automation are critical. The next time we face a challenge—and we don't know what it will look like—if these small businesses are better equipped in that sense, they will develop to perform better and stay relevant in the context, and maybe operate despite the challenge. We need this.

The time when everything was manual is basically a challenge for the future. We have to get them to automation and modernization. This is the type of program that ACOA and CED-Q are supporting the small and medium-sized businesses to move in, with the support of the ecosystem. It's essential.

We have a challenge in Quebec, and I think it's probably the case in Atlantic Canada as well, whereby small and medium-sized businesses are, on average, smaller than what you will find in Ontario. It means you have less human capital and fewer resources to be able to handle this transformation. This is why we are essential in working with them, along with the ecosystem, to help these businesses go a step beyond, so that they are better positioned to survive and perform in international commerce, but also to survive crises in the future. This is really important.

I think if there were an indicator I would be looking for, it would be that indicator about the level of accommodation in our small and medium-sized businesses. This is one factor of resilience we have to watch for.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We have six minutes left. We've completed round one. Would you like to have two minutes, two minutes and one and one? Does anybody have a fast question they'd like to ask?

Please be quick if you have a question, Mr. Cannings.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

I would like to ask Monsieur Laplante if he has a quick answer. What could this government do and what levers could be pulled to produce more reliable supply chains?

[Robert Laplante]

First of all, we need better oversight. The elements that shape supply chain development, at least in terms of public policies and standards, require very rigorous oversight. In that regard, better support from Export Development Canada, sector by sector, can certainly help improve and enhance each participant's capacity to contribute as much as they can to the chain.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Ms. Fortier.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

I have a question, but first I want to remind you that last December the Conservatives filibustered by forcing a voting marathon. During the votes, they made it clear that they wanted to cut funding for Canada Economic Development, or CED, and even for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, or ACOA.

Anyway, Mr. Perron, I'd like you to talk about the regional economic growth through innovation program. How does it help businesses set themselves up for export and growth?

[Sony Perron]

The program helps businesses in a number of ways. First, it helps them boost their productivity and compete with international companies in their sector. That makes them visible to major contractors. They can benefit from measures taken by major contractors, but they have to comply with the standards and meet their requirements.

We also help them with their export plans. Our colleagues in the regional export promotion agencies, which we call ORPEXes, design export plans with SMEs. They come to us to see if we can co-fund that, and we often do via the regional economic growth through innovation program, the REGI, which you mentioned, but the Government of Quebec also offers resources to help businesses, including loans that businesses have lots of time to repay. That gives them breathing room and the freedom to set up new production methods and explore export opportunities while managing the associated risk so it doesn't prevent them from being productive in the short term. We work with them for the long haul.

In Quebec, some of these businesses come back to us for help at different stages of growth. I'm sure that happens in the Atlantic provinces as well. There are a lot of great stories about companies that started out as micro-enterprises and are now big companies that export goods, are very resilient and have access to a diversified market.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

This type of funding is a necessary lever, then.

[Sony Perron]

Yes. Those programs are ongoing. They don't just end. There's no end date. People come back with new projects and we work with them to move their projects forward.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Perron.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Jeneroux, did you have a question?

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

I'm happy to keep us here, but no. I'm good.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Savard-Tremblay.

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

Mr. Laplante, you talked about harmonizing standards.

The issue is always figuring out how to retain the right to legislate.

Also, the desire to avoid non-tariff barriers at all costs does not preclude adopting policies that are good for the environment, health, and so on.

[Robert Laplante]

It's the opposite, actually, because the best way to make a successful contribution to economic development is to focus on better control of our goals and objectives.

Sacrificing standards and giving up on our objectives in any way means giving up our ability to mobilize stakeholders around exciting projects and objectives that look like they can benefit everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Okay.

Mr. Martel, go ahead quickly.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

I'll be quick.

I'm going to need a minute, but I know it's not enough.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

My question is for Mrs. Brassard.

How can financial programs be adapted to better protect businesses from the vulnerability and risk of exporting interprovincially or internationally?

[Nadine Brassard]

Well, as Mr. Perron said, businesses have to start with a good plan, a good strategy. They need to be able to deal with the challenges they face without always using the same formula. Businesses need to start with a clear and credible plan that they're capable of executing.

Second, the programs must be able to meet businesses' actual needs. A business might consider going to a place, but then abandon the idea after looking at the market and crunching the numbers. They end up changing their mind and going elsewhere.

There has to be a little leeway. I know that happens in some programs, but there has to be some openness so businesses can be flexible. When a business exports internationally, flexibility is essential. Programs have to be flexible to meet businesses' needs.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you, Mrs. Brassard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much to all our witnesses. It's very valuable information. If you have anything in a written report that you'd like to submit, please submit it to the clerk for the whole committee to have.

Colleagues, we should have our witnesses on the Ecuador free trade agreement study in by Friday, February 9, and for CARM by Thursday, February 15.

Is everybody in agreement with those deadlines?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.