Debates of May 29th, 2008

Foreign Affairs and International Trade--Main Estimates, 2008-09

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Chair, can the minister tell the House to what degree the targets being set for training the Afghan army are being met?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, we are in early days. The military has achieved the training of something like 35,000 security people in Afghanistan, but we have a long way to go. We are putting a strategy in place for getting that done and for measuring progress across that and many other areas as we move to 2011.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

The next block of time for 15 minutes belongs to the government. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and to the Minister of International Trade has the floor.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Chair, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, it is certainly a privilege to rise in the House today to talk for a few minutes about the implementation of our global commerce strategy and how it will help Canadian companies and investors succeed and thrive in the global economy.

A few weeks ago, the hon. Minister of International Trade tabled in the House legislation to enact Canada's first free trade agreement since 2001, an agreement with the European Free Trade Association nations of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It is an important agreement for Canada, one that gives our businesses competitive terms of access in these important markets and a new link in the growing network of European supply chains.

Just today, we signed a free trade agreement with Peru, an economic leader in Latin America. This new agreement will open new doors for exporters, service providers and investors in this important market.

These agreements are watersheds in Canada's evolving trade strategy. They send a clear signal to the international community that Canada is back in the global commerce game. And they prove that this government is committed to sharpening Canada's competitive positioning in the global economy.

We believe that a strong, aggressive and forward-looking trade and investment strategy is good for Canada. The global economy is evolving and we have to adapt accordingly.

When we talk of trade today, we are talking about “integrative” trade: in other words, the whole range of commercial exchanges that go into creating wealth and prosperity in the global economy. Of course, this includes exports and imports.

It also includes investment, innovation and technology exchanges. These are all part of creating economic opportunity and success.

The level of competition is enormous. Trading nations like ours are facing a competitive landscape like never before, from traditional competitors such as the U.S., Australia and the EU as well as emerging giants such as Russia, Brazil, India and China.

In addition to this fierce competition, we also are facing a range of other challenges, including a high dollar and a slowdown in the U.S. economy. These challenges risk eroding the competitiveness of our exports, our ability to attract foreign investment and ultimately our ability to participate in global value chains.

It is also a world where governments are competing with governments to support their businesses and investors in the right ways, in the right markets, with the right tools.

That is where our global commerce strategy, led by the hon. Minister of International Trade, comes in. Under “Advantage Canada”, this government has demonstrated its commitment to creating a more competitive economy on several fronts.

From reducing red tape and streamlining regulations to an ambitious series of tax cuts, to education, infrastructure and a range of strategic investments and initiatives, steps are being taken to create a more competitive domestic economy.

Our Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative is a good example. It is a bold, visionary effort to boost our west coast transportation infrastructure and create a gateway of choice for shippers and businesses looking for the most efficient link between North America and the Asian marketplaces.

Our global commerce strategy fits squarely into our efforts to create a more globally competitive economy. It flows from our recognition that to be globally competitive our businesses need to be supported in the right markets and, again, with the right tools.

Of course, market access for our businesses and investors will always be a crucial focus of our work. That is why the WTO will be our preferred forum for market access. We will continue working with our partners to push hard for a successful conclusion to the Doha round.

In the meantime, we are stepping up our efforts on the bilateral front, first and foremost as a partner in the enormously successful North American commercial platform. Canada benefits greatly from being part of NAFTA and we are working closely with the U.S. and Mexico on a range of issues to keep trade, investment and talent moving across our borders and ensure that the North American partnership remains strong and prosperous.

This is especially crucial in this day of an economic slowdown in the U.S. South of the border, protectionist voices are growing louder. It is up to all of us who believe in a strong North American platform to remind people that it is a competitive world out there and we need this platform today more than ever.

Thanks to NAFTA, the world looks at North America as an integrated continental marketplace of 440 million people bound together by an ambitious free trade agreement that has created one of the most prosperous commercial platforms anywhere on the planet. We need to support this message with concrete action to make the North American platform more competitive and help all three countries deal with the challenge posed by commercial powerhouses such as China, India and Brazil.

Now is not the time to turn our backs on the platform but indeed to rededicate ourselves to it and make it even more competitive in the years to come. With our American and Mexican partners, that is exactly what we are doing.

We are also getting more aggressive on the bilateral front outside of North America. In addition to the EFTA and Peru agreements, our negotiators are busy with a long list of other negotiations around the world, with Colombia, the Caribbean community, the Dominican Republic, Jordan and South Korea, for instance.

We are engaged in a joint study with the European Union on the cost and benefits of a closer, economic partnership. We are looking to launch negotiations with new EFTA partners.

The results of these efforts should provide our businesses and investors with new links and improved access to new markets, but it is not all about FTAs. We are focused on other kinds of agreements too.

Air services agreements are a good example. We currently have more than 70 in place. Since last January, we have successfully negotiated new or updated existing agreements with nine countries, including Japan, Ireland, Kuwait, Jordan, Iceland, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, and Barbados. That sounds like a country and western song, Mr. Chair.

We also recently launched negotiations with the EU toward a comprehensive air transport agreement. This is expected to result in an open skies framework between Canada and all 27 member states, including eight countries where rights currently do not exist at all.

We are also engaging in consultations with a number of key bilateral partners, including the Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan, China and Hong Kong, to continue liberalizing air services.

Investment agreements are another good example of how we can work with our partners to create more opportunities. Canadian firms and investors clearly recognize the importance of investing globally. To support them in these efforts, Canada has 23 foreign investment protection and promotion agreements, or FIPAs, in place with key partners around the world, including, most recently, Peru.

We also have concluded negotiations with India and Jordan. Negotiations are now under way with China, Kuwait and Vietnam and exploratory discussions are being held with a number of countries in Asia and Africa. These agreements will help Canadian firms and investors build their own links in the value and supply chains driving business around the world.

We cannot forget the importance of research, science and technology in a competitive economy. Our recently announced science and technology strategy is helping us to create a more competitive and dynamic business environment that encourages investment in S and T and innovation.

The strategy also highlights the importance of partnerships with other innovative countries to access foreign knowledge, technologies and expertise in creating marketable products. That is why science and technology cooperation agreements are another focus of our work under the global commerce strategy.

Canada currently has agreements in place with countries such as China and India, which are helping to boost research and develop collaboration and bring new high tech products to market quickly. We are negotiating similar arrangements with Chile and Brazil. These agreements are a great example of how countries can join forces, build off each other's strengths and put exciting innovative products to work on the global stage.

We are also keenly aware of the important role strategic government services can play in helping connect our businesses and investors to global opportunity. For example, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is working closely with Canadian businesses to develop a series of targeted, sector-based market plans for key markets. These plans embrace the full range of international business activities, from exports, imports and investments to science and technology, licensing and the negotiation of market access through trade and investment agreements.

We also enjoy a wide-reaching international commercial network. We currently have about 900 trade commissioners active in over 150 cities around the world, including 13 regional offices across Canada. These dedicated men and women are adapting to new global business models like integrated trade and helping to create new partnerships with nations around the world that will benefit all of our economies.

To support them in these efforts, we are opening new trade offices in the world's most exciting markets, including China, India and Brazil. We are committed to offering the right services in the right markets for Canadian businesses to help them succeed and thrive in the new global economy.

The global commerce strategy is a road map to help our businesses and investors adapt to the complex reality of integrated trade. Through it, we are getting Canada back in the global commerce game. We are sharpening our competitive advantages and helping Canadians create wealth and opportunity in some of the world's most exciting markets.

I respectfully ask for the support of all hon. members as we take more steps to create a competitive and prosperous Canada in the years to come and bolster Canada's solid position as a natural business destination and a partner of choice for international business for years to come.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Chair, it is important for all of us in the House to remember that the best way to help reduce poverty, the best way to fight famine and need and hunger around the world is to provide the fundamentals for a strong economy. That means even allowing people the opportunity to have a job in some of those countries.

As members of the House will know, Canada has made the Americas a priority. The Americas represent a remarkable opportunity for Canada to show its leadership in our own hemisphere and neighbourhood. We have had an unprecedented number of high level visits to the Americas, including our Prime Minister. One reason he went was to help build stronger relationships and ties.

The fruits of our efforts have already been seen. We have completed free trade agreements with Peru. We have launched negotiations with Colombia, the Dominican Republic and with CARICOM. We have increased our development program in the Caribbean.

We are acting on our commitment and Canada is willing to do more.

I know the parliamentary secretary and a group from the trade committee have just returned from the Americas and recently from Colombia and Peru. Would he expand a bit on that trip and the opportunities that he sees being afforded to our country, somewhat because of the trip that they took?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Mr. Chair, as most people in the House will know, our government, our Prime Minister and the Minister of International Trade have taken a serious look at the Americas and a re-engagement with it.

What many people do not realize is the fact that Canadian foreign direct investment in the Americas is worth $100 billion. That is more money than our trade is worth with China and more money than our trade with India, and it is right on our doorstep. It is a huge opportunity and one that we would be careless not take advantage of and pursue, not only for our own good, but for the good of the other countries in the Americas.

The international trade committee did travel to Colombia. We spent four days in Bogota. When we left there, we went to Panama. I then went on to Honduras and Nicaragua. There are ongoing trade negotiations with the Central America four countries, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.

I was chagrined to see some of our committee members turn their backs on the opportunities in Colombia. A few years ago Colombia was in dire straits. It was practically a failed nation. Today it is moving forward. It has a growth rate of 7%. There are 1,000 Canadian businesses in Colombia. That is a huge commitment on our part. They show all the corporate social responsibility that Canadian companies are famous for around the world.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I am about to recognize the hon. member for Ottawa Centre, who will have noticed so far that debate has gone very well in a depersonalized way, but he has not heard me insist that all questions be addressed in the third person and not in the second person.

He now has the floor.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, in my previous questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I had asked whether there had been a strategic overview document produced by the department. This was not about any confidential documents, simply a strategic overview. I want to establish that the minister will in fact make those available to Parliament.

[David Emerson, Conservative, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, as I indicated to the hon. member, a strategic review was done. It was done at the cabinet level with Treasury Board. It was done in a budgetary context.

We have certainly produced a strategy for foreign affairs that will involve reshaping the way we run the business, if I might call it that. It will involve certainly more of our personnel being out in the field. It will involved a principled, values-driven approach to our foreign affairs. It will involve a major trade agenda.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am asking simply if he will make that available to Parliament.

[David Emerson, Conservative, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, earlier I said that we would provide some material that would enable him to have a reasonable assessment of what we were doing.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank him for that.

I would like to move now to questions around what has been called NAFTA-gate. Very simply, was Frank Sensenbrenner was hired by the embassy?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Chair, I believe the issue he is talking about is the investigation that was done by the Clerk of the Privy Council. The Clerk of the Privy Council addressed the questions of the leak of the memo relating to the American presidential campaign to NAFTA. His conclusion was that there was an unduly broad distribution to 232 email addresses of it, of which a number were outside the Government of Canada. That made it difficult to assess what the problem was, but we know the problem was not, as they cleared, the chief of staff to the Prime Minister.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the answer, but I asked a different question. I asked whether someone had been hired by the American embassy. The gentleman's name was Frank Sensenbrenner. Was he hired by the American embassy, yes or no?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Chair, the question about the American embassy I guess would have to be directed to the American government.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I stand corrected. I misspoke because I know he was a rather active member of the Republican Party, so I apologize. Was he hired by the Canadian embassy?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not know that this is a day for a discussion of the personnel throughout. I do not see the relationship to the issue he raised of the investigation into the leak of the NAFTA memo. The chief Clerk of the Privy Council did a very extensive investigation into that, and its findings are quite conclusive.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, we now established that the government is not aware of who has been hired at the American embassy.

Maybe we will turn to getting another answer and ask a question. Has the foreign affairs department calculated the cost of repatriating Brenda Martin? Could it give us the dollar amount for that.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, we are extremely delighted that this matter has been successfully resolved and that Brenda Martin is back in Canada. Like all Canadians, we were all worried about her state. She is fine now that she is back in Canada.

As far as the cost is concerned, I will get back to the member in due course with the details.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, regarding the repatriation of foreign citizens, could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us, where in the main estimates would the costs for repatriation come? In other words, could he tell us what vote line on the actual estimates that cost would come from?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, it is not going to be there explicitly. We are going to have to fish it out of a combination of salary and operating expenses, but we can attempt to extract the data and provide it for the member.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, a Canadian citizen is presently in Sudan. In fact, he is taking refuge in the Canadian embassy in Sudan. His name is Abousfian Abdelrazik, as people will know. We have asked questions in the House about him.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us how much it would cost to repatriate Mr. Abousfian Abdelrazik to Canada?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Chair, we are aware of this case. I do not understand the hon. member's question. Is he asking about the cost of repatriating him while he is still in Sudan? I cannot comment much on it as there is currently a court case going on.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I simply asked, Mr. Chair, how much it would cost and I will leave that with the government to calculate. It is simply about airlift, providing air passage for a Canadian citizen to come back. We have established that this has been done in the past. Perhaps we could do it in a more cost effective manner.

I want to ask a couple of questions about Canada's participation in the mission in Afghanistan. Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us how much the mission in Afghanistan is costing the Department of Foreign Affairs presently, not the whole government?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Chair, as part of the package of materials that will be brought before the parliamentary committee and will form part of our reporting publicly, we will be getting more current data on the costs and the different elements of costing. We will be happy to share that with him as it becomes available.