Evidence of meeting #2 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 rules.
A video is available from Parliament.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
That's a good question. If I do some quick math, it's about 20% to 25%.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Okay.
Similarly, there's the Mercosur in South America. What are your thoughts on that? What can we do with South America? Is there anything we can do better?
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
Well, there are major agri-food producers that have different regulations. We're primarily looking for reciprocity. That's extremely important. If we don't have it, other countries will have expectations that we can't comply with. When their products reach our border, we won't let those kinds of products into Canada because the regulations are too different.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Okay, thank you.
I'll let you continue, Mr. Lavoie.
Liberal
Steeve Lavoie Liberal Beauport—Limoilou, QC
I'll continue with you, Mr. Roy.
I'd like to get back to some of the questions I asked you earlier about production and processing. I have a two-part question for you. I asked it quickly before, but I'd like to go over some aspects with you again.
Can you briefly tell us what the three largest obstacles are in your industry, along with the best three solutions to overcome them? You talked about processing and adding value, which sounds very interesting to me.
What are the three obstacles and the three solutions?
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
As producers, we have to sell our products to processors, and they need access to international markets. We're increasing our domestic consumption, but not by enough. As a nation with a lot of agricultural land, we can do this.
One of the problems is restrictions on investment.
Liberal
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
The two have to go hand in hand. We can't build an industry without society's support. That's important. It has to be a partnership.
Then, we need predictable, stable trade regulations. That's what we have been talking about today. With respect to our market diversity, we talked about food security. We need access to a number of markets with which we can negotiate stable, robust agreements.
Liberal
Steeve Lavoie Liberal Beauport—Limoilou, QC
When you say regulations, you're not talking about Mr. Trump's regulations south of the border, are you? That unpredictability isn't new.
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
No, I'm not talking about that kind of unpredictability.
Liberal
Steeve Lavoie Liberal Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Okay, that's good.
Back to investment. What's getting in the way of private investment at this point? Is it a chicken-and-egg situation? Is the private sector waiting for the public sector and vice versa?
What's preventing them from dancing?
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
Regarding the workforce, there are challenges for the production side and the processing side. If we want to redouble our efforts, we need a predictable workforce, which is tricky these days.
The same goes for capital. If we want to be in a position to invest, we need long-term plans. Right now, that's one of the things that's preventing us from growing as much as we could.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry, sir, but you have 11 seconds left. I don't think you can get much done with that.
Mr. Savard-Tremblay, please go ahead. You have two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm the only member from Quebec who hasn't yet boasted about having the most beautiful riding. I will do so now: Saint‑Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton is the most beautiful riding, tied with Mr. Lavoie's riding. That's where I'm from, so the Quebec City region is pretty much tied too, if you ask me. It is near and dear to my heart. All of Quebec is magnificent, in fact. That's one of the reasons it should be a bloody beautiful country, though I'm sure not everyone agrees with what I just said.
That being said, Mr. Vaillancourt, let's talk about the World Trade Organization, the WTO. When we talk about regulations and rules-based trade, that's often the institution people have in mind. The WTO's rules are still in effect. People often say that, when agreements fail, the WTO's rules will endure.
However, the Dispute Settlement Body, the DSB, is still blocked. I remember this committee studied the matter in March 2020. Very little has happened since then. The first Trump administration was in power at the time, and the situation persisted under the Biden administration.
You've said that having rules is all well and good, but not at any price. Many people are saying that, without the WTO, we'd be kind of screwed because the Trump administration would reign supreme.
Shouldn't the WTO, in its original iteration, be modernized?
President, Attac Québec
Yes. The WTO had become so weak that, in the end, multilateral agreements were made to replace it. The issue lies in the fact that, when an organization encompasses so many countries, it's extremely difficult to bring negotiations to a successful conclusion. There have been major rounds of negotiations, such as the Doha round. Admittedly, this round failed miserably because the people were unable to reach an agreement. The decision was made to turn to multilateral agreements. Canada signed three major agreements: the Canada—United States—Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA; the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union, or CETA; and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans‑Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, which we discussed earlier.
That's how things currently stand. However, some of the WTO's difficulties have also been carried over to these agreements, particularly when it comes to private arbitration tribunals. These tribunals were rejected under CUSMA and they aren't operational under CETA. There hasn't been any European ratification that would enable their implementation. This remains the case in other agreements, often bilateral, that Canada will negotiate. That said, the removal of this investor‑state dispute settlement mechanism is still noteworthy and it satisfies a demand made by a number of civil society organizations.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
This mechanism has also been the focus of a study. It was removed from the CUSMA, even though it originated in this very agreement, formerly known as the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. At least, that agreement put it out there or made it a model. Canada is now determined to sign other agreements that include this mechanism.
Should we put an end to this?
President, Attac Québec
Yes. These agreements should definitely be terminated.
Liberal
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
I am. I'm in a sharing mood.
Mr. Roy, to your knowledge, has the government challenged the EU's discriminatory treatment of Canadian pork products?
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Has the Canadian government, to your knowledge, challenged the discriminatory treatment of Canadian pork products in the United Kingdom?
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Do you know why the government has not challenged the EU on this?
Chair, Canadian Pork Council
We have requested more clarity on the EU side. In fact, the industry is going there in the coming weeks to have more clarity, but it's still opaque, and we would like to have more knowledge about what is happening. We have also advocated for this with the government.