International Trade Committee on Dec. 4th, 2025

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We'll go to Mr. Savard-Tremblay, please, for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you for being here, Minister. I also want to thank your colleagues who are with you today.

I didn't plan to ask this question, but my colleague gave me the idea when she mentioned culture. I want to talk about the cultural exemption, which you said would be preserved in its entirety. Maybe it's not directly under your purview since several departments are concerned, but the cultural sector would like to see the retaliatory clause repealed.

Are you considering it? Would it be a general exemption or a chapter-by-chapter exemption, like in the agreement with the EU, which is a setback in terms of the cultural exemption?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I'm not in charge of negotiations. The Prime Minister is, with the support of Minister LeBlanc.

That being said, as an MP and a minister from Quebec, I can tell you that protecting the cultural exemption in CUSMA is important. As the Prime Minister indicated during the campaign, he's committed to protecting our language and our culture.

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

So you would agree that, in an ideal world, there would be no retaliatory clause. Is that right?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I'm not familiar enough with the information you're giving me. I wouldn't want to give you information that's unrelated to what's currently being discussed at the negotiating table. I'd be sort of coming out of left field.

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

Okay, I can respect that.

Let's go from culture to agriculture then. Minister LeBlanc appeared before us and said that there would be no compromise on supply management. He also said that the government wouldn't do it through the back door.

Is that your position as well?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

That's absolutely our position. It's the one we've held during the campaign, after which we received a mandate. That's what my colleague who supports the Prime Minister, who's in charge of negotiations, said, and I agree with him.

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

So you won't change the rules through the back door either like you did for imports, correct?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We already have legislation in place that we worked on with the Bloc Québécois.

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

Let's talk about wood, even if we don't have any in my riding—I mean, we do have wood, like forests and trees, but no forestry industry. That's what I meant.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I'm happy to know that your riding has trees.

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

It would be pretty sad if it didn't.

Combined tariffs exceeding 45% have dire consequences for the industry. Can we expect a specific strategy for the softwood lumber sector anytime soon?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I know that my colleague Tim Hodgson, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, is working not only to implement our plan to support the softwood lumber sector and the forestry industry in general, but also to develop a strategy to help businesses adapt and transition. This falls within the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces, but is also a federal responsibility.

We're helping industries by lessening the tariffs' impacts and helping businesses adapt and transition, as I said. We worked with the Business Development Bank of Canada, or BDC, to offer a solution to banks. With our approach, banks offer banking solutions, but the risks are borne by the government through the BDC.

I also suppose my colleague has worked with the provinces because, of course, we know that stumpage fees fall within provincial jurisdiction.

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

But this falls into the general supports offered to every sector affected by tariffs. It's not specific to the forestry industry.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

The supports offered through the BDC are specific to softwood lumber.

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

And those supports are available right now, correct?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Yes, they're available.

I hope that banks will go even further. I think that the problem that we see in the softwood lumber sector at this time is that business owners are wary of taking more risks and going further into debt. But on the other hand, banks are very risk-averse. We implemented a solution that lets banks take risks because we're the ones bearing those risks. We just want to make sure that softwood lumber businesses don't get caught in a debt spiral. That's why we have this more focused approach. That's also why I want to make sure that banks can give out funding more quickly.

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

Are loans the right approach for that type of sector?

Why not offer wage subsidies or something along those lines?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We believe that helping the softwood lumber industry by providing some cash flow has to go through the BDC. We're also supporting processors through regional development agencies. Part of that help is non-refundable.

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

The Buy Canadian policy that was announced on September 5 states that priority will be given to Canadian materials in federal contracts worth $25 million or more. On November 29, the government said that it intends to implement this policy later this year. “This year” being 2025, will it be implemented soon? The year is almost over.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

The budget needs to be passed first. We still have a few important votes to go before that happens, which will help. I hope we can count on the Bloc Québécois to support the budget.

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

I'm not going to say anything without legal counsel.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

As a lawyer, I can represent you. It's not a problem.

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

Assuming that everything goes smoothly, can we expect the policy to be implemented before the end of the year?