International Trade Committee on Nov. 20th, 2025

[Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood]

I don't have too much to add to what's been said by my colleagues already.

I absolutely agree that it would be convenient for very small businesses to have supports or to have special considerations in the case of very small businesses in particularly low-risk sectors, for example, when it comes to this.

I would also echo that perhaps an advantage of having an entity list is that it is publicly available. Having that entity list be transparently communicated would also create a publicly available database of entities where there is suspicion of forced labour, which is also, across the board, something that would improve ease of business practices for businesses looking for that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We're on to Mr. Savard-Tremblay for two and a half minutes.

He will be the last speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Therchin, we know that Canada–U.S. relations have been a little complicated lately.

Do you think Bill C‑251 could help improve those relations, in the sense that it would bring North America's legislative systems regarding imports into alignment?

[Sherap Therchin]

I will give a very generic answer.

Although I think we're all concerned about the current trade relationship between Canada and the U.S., at a people-to-people level and at a cultural level, I don't see this as a long-term problem. I see this more as a temporary, one-year or two-year, problem.

I'm a bit more optimistic in this regard. In the long term, I think there will be a more favourable situation.

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

Yes, of course.

My question wasn't about Canada–U.S. relations in general.

Do you think the bill would help to build trust with the U.S.? It would send a message of legislative unity and show that Canada's border is not porous, especially when it comes to, say, Chinese goods produced using forced labour. It would be a geopolitical stand.

[Sherap Therchin]

It would definitely work in favour of both Canada and the U.S. if we worked as a team to counter forced labour imports from China.

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

Thank you.

Mr. Gilchrist‑Blackwood, you talked briefly about the ombud, saying that the position is vacant. I presume you'd like for someone to be appointed?

[Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood]

Yes, absolutely.

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

Thank you.

That said, does the ombud have enough powers or should the ombud have more? Should the ombud have, for example, the power to call witnesses and request documents?

[Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood]

The office must have the ability to carry out effective and independent investigations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I understand Garnett has a burning question. I don't know if anyone else does. I'm just keeping track of the time. We have committee business on the travel to finalize quickly. We have to deal with Mr. Chambers' motion as well, and it's 5:03.

Mr. Genuis, go ahead.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you for your indulgence, Chair. I'll be brief.

Madam Chair, you and I are both involved in IPAC, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international organization of legislators working on China that's done a lot on the forced labour issue in particular. I think it's noteworthy that one of the founders of that organization was Marco Rubio, who's now the U.S. Secretary of State and who also played a central role in the passing of the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the United States. He clearly is deeply, personally invested in these issues. It seems to me that an easy area to potentially pursue a win-win would be to engage more with the United States in finding greater levels of alignment on combatting forced labour and on working together on enforcement, as well as on alignment in terms of legislation.

Do any of our witnesses know if any conversations or proposals have been put forward or discussed in the context of the present difficulties around working more effectively with the United States on forced labour issues as a way to achieve a win-win on something that's clearly important to people within the administration and that's important to us as well?

[Stuart Trew]

I'm not aware of any conversations happening with the United States or the details of them. Obviously, the government hasn't shared a lot of those details, so we just don't know the extent of the proposals that have been put forward.

I do suspect that the United States Trade Representative and the government would be very open to a proposal from Canada to co-operate more closely on these issues.

[Elizabeth Kwan]

I would absolutely agree with that. It's not something that people think of when they talk about trade between the two countries, but, as you said, it's a win-win, and we should absolutely count on you to amplify this with your colleagues in the House.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Okay. Thank you.

If none of the witnesses have anything to add, thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Let's wait for them to complete their answers.

[Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood]

I don't have anything to add. I don't have any additional information on the subject, but I too suspect that there would be openness there.

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Following up on Garnett's question, what approach would you recommend to the government in taking on an initiative like this with Secretary Rubio?

[Elizabeth Kwan]

I would hope that team Canada out there—the key ministers and Ambassador Hillman—would hear about this and see it as basically a good bridge over the tensions that exist right now, because it is a win-win situation. They want it. They've wanted it in both administrations, and we now have something that we can put together to offer them.

[Stuart Trew]

This might be an obvious point to the committee, but I'd also point out that while they may want that, they also want to destroy our auto industry and destroy our steel industry.

As for how impressed they would be by a proposal like that, I just don't know. It sounds to me like we're heading toward some agreement on some basic level of tariff. No matter what it is, it is going to undermine our industrial policy, our industrial sector. These are difficult questions.

I think eagerly co-operating with the United States on this issue, though, is very positive, even outside of the trade negotiations. It might even be better to remove this as a CUSMA issue and to focus on it as something that's good for workers around the world and good for business in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm not seeing anybody else with answers, so thank you very much. We had you for an hour and a half, and we very much appreciate it. We normally don't have that much time with our witnesses, so today was exceptional. Thank you all very much.

While the witnesses leave, I will suspend. We'll go into committee business quickly, and then we'll deal with Mr. Chambers' motion.

[Proceedings continue in camera]