Evidence of meeting #12 for International Trade in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was brand.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
I imagine there are other channels of communication besides meetings. There must be meetings with the Prime Minister's Office and the relevant departments. You can also send emails.
That being the case, have any recommendations been made in settings other than in-person meetings?
Investor, As an Individual
No, there have not been formal recommendations, no.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
In that case, on what basis do you provide advice?
Investor, As an Individual
As I've said, the council was meeting regularly. Right now, I'm not giving any specific advice to the government at this moment relative to the CUSMA negotiations.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
I'm going to turn to the Chamber of Commerce—so to you, Ms. Fortin LeFaivre and Mr. Kongtsa.
In June 2025, Canadian export manufacturers reported that 16% of Canadian respondents to their survey indicated that they had relocated some of their production to the United States to deal with rising costs and market uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs. So the majority of those who relocated operations already had facilities in the United States. This is nothing new—it is simply that they were established in both countries, and that, in the end, they are now only in the United States.
Have you witnessed that trend among your members?
Senior Vice President, International Policy and Global Partnerships, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
We conducted some surveys of Canadian companies, and we noted that steps were taken to diversify markets outside of the United States.
I can't comment on that specific question, but we could check with one of our teams of economists. However, it is a trend that we fear. We hear rumours about some companies considering that possibility. It seems to be a real trend, so it does concern us.
Liberal
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for appearing and giving your time to the committee.
Ms. Dickinson, when was the last time the council met?
Investor, As an Individual
I can't give you an exact date. It's not.... It isn't in my head right at this moment.
Conservative
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Was it August 22 of this summer? Does that sound about right for the last meeting of the council?
Investor, As an Individual
It would have been probably in the summer, yes.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Okay. I believe that's the last time you had written about your discussions in the council.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
At that time, you had written that there was “a lot happening on the negotiating front, and we had a chance to discuss the evolving talks and provide our input as a group.”
What was your last advice to the government at that last meeting in August?
Investor, As an Individual
With regard to the last advice I was giving at that meeting, again, I think those discussions are meant to be confidential. The whole point of them is to make sure that we can be honest and direct with the Prime Minister about what our beliefs are. How he takes that advice and what he does with that advice is really with him. He is our Prime Minister. Our job is to give advice. We gave that in a closed room.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Are you not willing to give us a brief understanding of what your advice was to the Prime Minister?
Investor, As an Individual
I don't know that anything really specific comes to mind. Again, we would have been talking about what was going on with the interprovincial trade. We would have been talking about what was going on with regard to ensuring that we were defending the industries that were around the table and around the country. We would have been thinking about entrepreneurs. It was broad. I wouldn't say there was anything specific. It was a very broad discussion.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Okay. Thank you.
I read another article that you wrote in the summer. It was entitled “Why Doesn’t Canada Have a Trillion-Dollar Sovereign Wealth Fund?” You described some of the great economic successes these funds have created in Norway, Alaska and to a lesser extent Alberta. I have to say that I really liked your article. I agreed with almost everything you wrote in there. The issue has been on my mind over many years. As you rightly pointed out, those jurisdictions have successfully harnessed their wealth of natural resources. You said in that article, “The countries that thrive long-term don’t just manage spending. They maximize earnings and preserve wealth.” Amen to that.
Given your views on that, I have several proposals I want to put to you to see if you think they are good ideas toward maximizing our resource wealth here in Canada.
First, do you think it would be a good idea to build more pipelines to get Canadian oil and gas to world markets and get better pricing?
Investor, As an Individual
I think getting our energy and resources to markets is a very important aspect of our economy.
November 6th, 2025 / 4:10 p.m.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Great.
Second, how about roads and infrastructure to the Ring of Fire in Ontario?
Conservative
