Transport Committee on April 4th, 2022

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

I want to thank everybody for their testimony today.

Ms. Pasher, I want to start with you. You talked a lot about the importance of airports. Calgary International Airport is in my constituency. It brings about $8 billion of GDP into the local economy. It's very, very important. The national trade corridors fund has been a tremendous help to support the building of the airport trail for our region.

In your testimony, you spoke about how foreign trade zones or free trade zones or corridors are where we need to make improvements, and I believe you specifically mentioned that Singapore and Hong Kong do it well. Could you please elaborate on those comments? What are the opportunities for Canada to make improvements there?

[Monette Pasher]

Currently, our foreign trade zones don't provide much benefit, to be honest. They're a cumbersome administrative burden of paperwork without a lot of benefit to our communities in job creation.

If we looked at our foreign trade zones to create actual free trade zones, we would probably see a lot more manufacturing and goods coming in, and people adding value to them and exporting out of Canada. We can create jobs here by creating the right system around free trade zones. We think we need to look at that and what improvements can be made to the current system.

I think there are eight foreign trade zones in Canada now, but there's not much value added, so they're really not providing any benefit. It sounds good, but I think we have a lot of work to do to actually make this a viable program that could help our airports, our communities and Canada.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

You mentioned that Singapore and Hong Kong do it well. What do they do that sits so well with us?

[Monette Pasher]

It would be less taxes. Right now, when goods come to Canada.... For example, if you have a chainsaw coming from Germany and you want to add parts to it and then export it from Canada as a Canadian product.... Right now, with the paperwork around that and the value-add taxes that go on it, we're not actually creating value for Canada to do this. They are doing that in Singapore and Hong Kong. I think there are examples out there that we can look at.

We're competing for that business. Right now, with how we're set up, we're not getting the business.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you.

There has been a lot of talk about supply chain vulnerability and opportunities and challenges. I was reading our report—you may not have seen our briefing document—and it talks about Canadian imports and exports being concentrated through a very small number of hubs. It says that Toronto International Airport, for air imports and exports, is our only international airport for clearance.

What is the impact of that on our country and our supply chain? Why not have an opportunity in western Canada, in Calgary, for example, for that clearance support?

[Monette Pasher]

I'm not sure I fully understand the question. Like Daniel Gooch, I am only two months into this interim position. I might be missing a bit of context on this one.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

No problem.

If someone else wants to touch on that specific question on clearance, imports and exports that are concentrated through a few hubs.... Toronto was deemed to be the only one for air imports and exports.

[Monette Pasher]

This is certainly not my knowledge. A number of our airports receive goods.

I'm not sure if you're referring to seventh freedom rights.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

I'm just referring back to the briefing document. Maybe I'll follow up with our analysts on that.

[Monette Pasher]

I think there are ways to improve, to look at some opportunities. Say you have a carrier from the Middle East and it would take goods to Philadelphia. Then we would have an empty plane coming from Philadelphia, let's say to Halifax, to then pick up lobster and go back to the Middle East. We're missing a piece in our supply chain where a plane is coming from the U.S. to Canada empty.

I think there are improvements that we could make on seventh freedom rights in terms of taking advantage of some of these routes that are in existence now. There are ways we could capitalize on them.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Chair, I don't know if I have any more time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

That's all the time you have, Mr. Chahal.

Thank you very much.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Witnesses, on behalf of all members, I want to thank you, first, for your patience with some of the technical issues we experienced today, but more importantly, for your valuable testimony on a very important study that we're conducting for all Canadians.

With that, I invite you all to log off, with the exception of my honourable colleagues, whom I want to quickly remind to send to the clerk any drafting instructions they may have for the railway safety study report.

Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone.

This meeting is adjourned.