Evidence of meeting #27 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 market.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
How much time do I have left, Mr. Chair?
Conservative
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC
My question will be brief, Mr. Irvine.
In that case, what do you think would be the ideal sustainable solution?
Executive Director, Lobster Council of Canada
Ideally, we would have open market access everywhere, without tariffs. As I said earlier, 75% of our lobster products go to America.
The most important thing to our industry is a positive renegotiation of CUSMA that leaves us with tariff-free access to America.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Adam Chambers
Thank you very much.
Mr. Bezan has the floor for four minutes, followed by Madame Lapointe for four minutes. That will end our questions.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Clement, we talked about the Chinese EVs and the cybersecurity risks they represent in terms of stealing personal information. Every time you jump in a car, the first thing you do is plug in your phone. It's going to download all of that data and information, and then it will potentially be used against you.
Do you believe that the U.S. government will allow Canadian-owned Chinese EVs to drive through border crossings into the U.S., if we start seeing 49,000 of them in Canada?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Clement Advisory Group, As an Individual
Those are 49,000 vehicles that won't be allowed into the United States.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Thank you for that.
You also said that “prosperity cannot come at the cost of national security”.
I want to drill down on that. Are we being greedy or naive when we're dealing with China and trying to trade with them?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Clement Advisory Group, As an Individual
I would say it's cautionary.
I don't think we've gone in knowing what we should know, whether it's because of not being properly briefed.... I'm glad to see that this committee has been.
However, were those who went over to China properly briefed? Did they go in recognizing that there were certain no-go areas that they should have put up a fence around or drawn a line in the sand on?
I'm not sure that happened.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Fitton-Brown, you talked about the Qatari influence in the economy.
You said that there are other democracies and it's not just Canada.... You said it's not “unusually reckless”, but the key word there is “reckless”.
Should we be more concerned than the government is in trying to do business with Qatar and its potential influence in the Canadian economy?
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
You should be concerned about it.
The key thing is to look at your strategic sectors and decide which ones are the most sensitive. Make sure that you have the correct regulations in place to govern them.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
You said in your opening comments that the Qatari government is tied to sponsoring terrorism.
The Qatari royal family owns Al Jazeera.
Is that correct?
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Al Jazeera had journalists who were supposedly embedded with Hamas but were actually participating in the Hamas attacks on October 7.
Is that correct?
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
It is correct.
Also, we had some examples in Gaza in which people were effectively terrorists by day and then put on a press shirt when it suited them to do so. There's some deep impropriety in the way that Al Jazeera has overlapped with Hamas combat operations in Gaza.
When we talk about sponsorship of terrorism, it depends a little bit on how you define terrorism. I don't know whether Canada has defined Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Conservative
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
I guess it probably has, in which case there is no doubt that Al Jazeera supports terrorism in that respect, because they also put out steady streams of Hamas propaganda.
In the case of the Muslim Brotherhood, I know that it is not defined as a terrorist organization in Canada.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
How is Qatar using the Muslim Brotherhood?
Do you consider it a terrorist organization as well?
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Well, I think that is a subject currently under review. In my view, it is a terrorist organization. The United States has just moved to proscribe four overseas branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is also proscribed as a terrorist organization in Austria. It's proscribed in a number of gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, but it operates by different methods in different countries. If it is in a country where it knows that active violence will get it shut down, then it operates within the constraints of the law on what's known as an entryist or a gradualist basis. However, is still moving towards the same desired end state, which is a global Islamic caliphate.
Conservative
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to welcome the witnesses. It's always very interesting to hear what they have to say and we really learn a lot about various subjects.
I have a question for Mr. Irvine, who represents the lobster industry.
Mr. Irvine, you talked earlier about live lobsters and processed products. Do you think trade opportunities with China and Qatar are greater with processed products or live lobster?
Executive Director, Lobster Council of Canada
China's market is typically a live crustacean market, which is why we sell mostly live lobster to China. In recent years, we have sold more value-added products to China, so I think there is a growth opportunity there.
Qatar, as I said, is still a very small market, and the ratio of live to frozen processed lobster is the same or very similar to China's. What we're seeing in most markets around the world is more demand for processed, value-added lobster, so we're building up capacity in plants in eastern Canada to produce more value-added products.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
We know China's tariff relief will last only one year. What will happen in 2027?
Executive Director, Lobster Council of Canada
We hope they will stay relaxed. We don't know.
This year, we sold more lobster into processing. We sold more lobster to many other markets. We'll have to do the same. This business is very resilient. We'll find a way to move the product. We have the best lobster in the world. We have fantastic exporters. We'll find a place to sell it.
Liberal
Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
I totally agree with you. We have very good lobsters.
My next question is for both Mr. Clement and Mr. Fitton‑Brown.
Given the current situation in the Middle East, how important is it to have economic partners such as Qatar in the gulf? I'd like to hear you on that.