Evidence of meeting #22 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 indonesia.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
In the agri-food sector, the products are really not the same. So there won't be a lot of imports from Indonesia.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
You say that the products are not the same. Could you illustrate that a little, so that we understand it a bit better?
Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
Indonesia produces tropical products, and that country is very far away. Those are not products that are very easy to export to us, given the country's development level.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
Will the agreement not specifically ensure that there are more of those products?
Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
I would say that the agreement creates a framework where these issues can be discussed between governments, but we don't see the possibility of a lot of Indonesian imports in the agri-food sector.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
For example, the famous palm oil production, which is considered extremely dangerous for the environment, has caused deforestation in areas larger than Belgium in some regions. That comes from the agri-food community, even though it is also used for cosmetics. It's also used, for example, for Nutella and spreads, and for a number of similar products. That production is documented. We know that there is violence; we know that warlords have existed; we know that environmental destruction has taken place. More of that product would enter Canada.
Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
I would say that another way—
Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
Another general way to approach these issues is that they should be managed outside the framework of trade agreements. These are bilateral issues between countries. Trade agreements should focus on trade.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Easton, does AtkinsRéalis have any ongoing projects in Indonesia?
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Previously, you worked on an airport and a high-speed rail project. Is that correct?
Global Head of Government Relations, AtkinsRéalis
I may have misunderstood the question. I apologize. I'm trying to get my earpiece to work.
I would have to come back and confirm the details of that.
Conservative
Global Head of Government Relations, AtkinsRéalis
Past projects. On current projects, there are none. On past projects, I would have to confirm.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Okay. That's great.
One of the things I'm concerned about, of course, is ensuring the ethical functioning of Canadian companies at home and abroad. It's no secret that your former iteration, SNC-Lavalin, had problems. We'll leave it at that.
Would you commit to the committee today that any future projects in Indonesia would not directly or indirectly benefit Brookfield or any of its subsidiary companies?
Global Head of Government Relations, AtkinsRéalis
I don't think I'm in the best position to answer that. Project financing around the world gets incredibly complex, and I'm not in a position to answer that.
February 10th, 2026 / 11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
You're not willing to give us that commitment. There's an obvious question that's been discussed with respect to the Prime Minister's ethical screens and his large holdings and business dealings with Brookfield and Brookfield-related companies. I want to know that from a company that has its own problems with ethical business conduct around the world.... I'm happy it's reforming itself—that's good for all Canadians—but I want to make sure that we don't get into any trouble again.
I'll ask you again. Would you commit that any future projects in Indonesia, where we're opening this trade deal, won't lead to a situation where there's entanglement between AtkinsRéalis and companies that may indirectly or directly benefit the Prime Minister?
Global Head of Government Relations, AtkinsRéalis
I think that's very difficult for me to commit to. What I can commit to is that, from an AtkinsRéalis standpoint, we have probably some of the highest integrity measures internal to our company that you could find in any company around the world with respect to integrity and sustainability. In all of the actions and all of the business engagements we're going to undertake, we're going to hold ourselves internally to those very high commitments.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Professor Lee, I have a few questions for you.
You mentioned in your opening comments the idea of competitive advantage. I love that. I'm a trade lawyer by profession. There are not enough people supporting free trade these days.
What areas, in your view, does Canada have a competitive advantage in?
Associate Professor, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, As an Individual
That's an excellent question.
One we don't seem to talk about very much is services, and more specifically, banking. I am a former banker. I do not consult or have any investments in the banks, but I do believe that the six large Canadian banks are some of the strongest and most powerful banks in the world. It is not an accident that the German banks, which are very good, or the American, British and French banks haven't come to Canada. There's a reason, which is that the Canadian banks are really good. There's one area.
We have very strong expertise in consulting, especially in housing and financial services.
I don't think it's in the manufacturing sector, at least in terms of autos and airplanes, and there's good evidence for that.
We certainly are very strong in services and, of course, natural resources and energy.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
All right.
The one that comes to my mind, which I think you've confirmed, is natural resources and energy, so oil and gas, minerals and those types of extractive industries. Is that right?
Associate Professor, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, As an Individual
Exactly, and especially in critical minerals, just to get it out there very quickly.
China has the United States by the throat on critical minerals. This has been well analyzed in Foreign Policy magazine, Foreign Affairs magazine and The Wall Street Journal. We have enormous amounts of critical minerals, especially in Ontario and Quebec. If there isn't some kind of a potential deal in the CUSMA there, I don't know and don't see why not.
Conservative
Jacob Mantle Conservative York—Durham, ON
Despite having this competitive advantage in some of these industries, it seems to me that perhaps we're not taking advantage of them. My question, then, is this: What's your assessment of that? Are we taking advantage of the things we are good at, or do we have things that are impeding us, and if so, what's your view on them?
