House of Commons Hansard #123 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ceta.

Topics

Question No. 570Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Saint-Maurice—Champlain Québec

Liberal

François-Philippe Champagne LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the federal debt, or difference between the Government of Canada’s total liabilities and its total assets, is calculated on a monthly basis, once the annual financial results for the previous fiscal year, including the closing balance of the federal debt, have been finalized, audited, and published. The federal debt stood at $613.3 billion as of October 31, 2015, the month-end closest to November 4, 2015.

With regard to (b), based on the most recent finalized monthly results available, of August 31, 2016, the federal debt stood at $622.4 billion.

With regard to (c), as per the November 2016 “Update of Economic and Fiscal Projections”, the projection of the federal debt is (i) for 2016-17, $642.0 billion; (ii) for 2017-18, $669.8 billion; and (iii) for 2018-19, $695.7 billion.

Question No. 571Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB

With regard to the attendance of the Minister of Finance at a fundraising event and the statement in the House from the Leader of the Government on October 20, 2016, that, “This event was open, and anyone who purchased a ticket was welcome to attend. The event was made public online,”: (a) what was the website address where the event was made public; (b) what were the dates, locations, and ticket prices for all similar type events where Ministers have been in attendance since November 4, 2015; (c) what are the dates, locations, and ticket prices for all similar type events which Ministers are currently scheduled to attend; and (d) what are the website addresses for all similar type events which Ministers are currently scheduled to attend?

Question No. 571Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, as this question does not relate to the administrative responsibilities of the government, the government has no information to provide.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, if the government's response to Questions Nos. 568 and 572 to 574 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Question No. 568Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC

With regard to materials prepared for the Minister of Public Safety between September 1, 2016, and September 30, 2016: for every briefing document or docket prepared, what is the (i) date, (ii) title or subject matter, (iii) department's internal tracking number?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 572Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB

With regard to grants and contributions under $25 000 provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, since November 4, 2015: for each contribution, what is the (i) recipient’s name, (ii) location, (iii) date, (iv) value, (v) type, (vi) purpose, (vii) project number?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 573Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB

With regard to contracts under $10 000 granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, since November 4, 2015: what are the (i) vendors' names, (ii) contracts' reference and file numbers, (iii) dates of the contracts, (iv) descriptions of the services provided, (v) delivery dates, (vi) original contracts' values, (vii) final contracts' values if different from the original contracts' values?

(Return tabled)

Question No. 574Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB

With regard to funding for clean water projects and programs in indigenous communities referenced in Supplementary Estimates (A), 2016-17: (a) what was the total amount allocated for such projects; (b) for each project with funding allocated, broken down by department or agency, what is the (i) amount allocated, (ii) amount spent, (iii) description of project, (iv) location; (c) what is the total amount allocated for each department or agency for such projects; (d) what is the total amount spent by each department or agency, as of present, for such projects; (e) what is the complete list of indigenous communities currently under a boil-water advisory; and (f) which of the projects referenced in (b) are in communities that are (i) currently under a boil-water advisory,(ii) have been under a boil-water advisory in the previous 12 months?

(Return tabled)

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Is that agreed?

Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motion for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.

Motion for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Is that agreed?

Motion for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

The House resumed from November 23 consideration of the motion that Bill C-30, An Act to implement the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union and its Member States and to provide for certain other measures, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-30. I commend all my colleagues in this House who have spoken to this bill over the last few days. It is a very important bill. I especially commend the member for New Brunswick Southwest, who made a great statement today on this bill. I would also like to recognize our trade minister for all the hard work she has done on this file. She has worked extremely hard on this important agreement, and along with our Prime Minister, on representing Canada across the world as an open, trading country.

I would also like to give recognition to our international trade committee, which I am very proud to sit on as the chair. I would like to thank the members of the committee for their work and engagement during this process. It is a very active committee. We are dealing with softwood lumber and problems with the meat sector in the United States. We also, over the last year, had a dialogue with Canadians and stakeholders on the TPP. We went right across the country. We had thousands of people come forward. During those proceedings, for the first time, the committee had an open mic at the end of each meeting, so we had a lot of feedback on the TPP across this country.

I am here to talk about the agreement with the European Union. Recently we had an excellent meeting with the European Economic and Social Committee, and we will continue to work closely with our European counterparts. They are very excited about this agreement.

Thinking of how Canada was formed, we go back hundreds of years. I guess it was 400 years ago that trade started between Europe and Canada. At that time, it probably started off with fishermen, with probably Spanish and Portuguese fishermen coming and getting fish and trading it back and forth. Other immigrants came over the years and created trade. We had farmers, and of course, the fur industry was another big one, with the voyageurs. Trade with Europe was very important in the early years, and it still is.

As the country expanded and immigrants came, most were from Europe. Ukrainian people came over. A lot of them are in my riding, but many of them went out west and developed the grain fields, and those products were traded back and forth.

Our connection with Europe goes way back, with over 400 years of trade. That continues to be so, though many of the products have changed.

The proposed comprehensive economic and trade agreement with the European Union is a modern, progressive trade agreement that, when implemented, will generate billions of dollars in bilateral trade and investment, providing greater choice and lower prices for consumers and creating middle-class jobs in many sectors. That is what our government stands for. We want to increase the middle class and have it do better, and trade is important. Countries that trade have a larger middle class and have more efficient and competitive industries.

CETA is the product of hard work and frank discussions. We have some of the best negotiators in the world on our team. There was a lot of commitment from our Prime Minister and the Minister of International Trade, our committee, and countless other people behind the scenes. I also have to commend the work of the former Conservative government on this agreement. The Conservatives set the groundwork for this. They started the negotiations, and they did a good job. They did not finish it, but they started the process, and we finished it. I have to commend the former Conservative government for initiating this, getting it going, and making it happen.

Negotiating a trade agreement such as the Canada-European comprehensive economic and trade agreement benefits Canadians. It creates new job opportunities and helps many people. The United States is still our biggest trading partner, but we have to look at other markets and see other trading partners. The European Union is tremendous. I think there are over 500 million citizens there. It is a big market, and they want our products. Canada's exports to the EU are diverse and include a significant share of value-added products in addition to traditional exports of resource-based products and commodities.

We have precious stones and metals. We have machinery and equipment. Minerals, fuels and oil, mineral ores, aerospace products, and fish and fish products are some of the top merchandise we sell to the EU.

Atlantic Canada, where I am from, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is closest to Europe. This will be a big advantage for us. Our two export sectors that will particularly benefit from CETA will be metals and mineral products, and of course, the fishing sector.

In Atlantic Canada, we have more than 400 small harbours. They each have 20 or 30 boats. We cannot eat all the fish in Atlantic Canada, and the rest of the world wants our fish, so it is very important that we have markets around the world for our fish products.

When it comes to exporting our products, Atlantic Canada has ports we can ship from. We ship our products year round. We have good deepwater ports that are ice free. We are two days closer than many other ports, such as Montreal, Boston, and New York. Atlantic Canada is well-positioned to do well, not only with products but by being the entry and exit point for products coming and going.

My home province of Nova Scotia will benefit significantly from CETA and will have preferable access to the EU market. The EU is Nova Scotia's second-largest export destination, and it is its second-largest trading partner, with a large portion of that share coming right from my island of Cape Breton.

Once in force, CETA will remove the boundaries for Nova Scotia exports and will create new markets and opportunities in the EU. Nova Scotia will benefit from improved exporting conditions. CETA will provide us with a competitive advantage over exporters in other countries that do not have free trade agreements with the EU. The United States tried to do an agreement like we did, but it did not succeed.

I have a neighbour in Cape Breton who is from Germany. His company is called PolyTech windows. They are beautiful windows. He is looking at making the windows in Nova Scotia and exporting them to the United States. We will not only benefit back and forth but we will be a gateway into the United States for a lot of products from the Europeans that we can add value to in Canada.

Between 2013 and 2015, Nova Scotia's merchandise exports to the EU were worth $465 million. As I said, fish and fish products were the largest share, at 45% of exports. Following fish and fish products were agriculture and agrifood.

Nova Scotia is unique. We have a lot of different products that have great potential, whether it is potatoes, blueberries, apples, or even beef. We have good beef in Atlantic Canada. It is grass-fed beef, and that is what Europeans like, so we have a great opportunity.

I visited an operation in Lunenburg where they grow the haskap berry, which is a very nutritious product. They are looking at exporting that product to the EU and doubling their production.

When we look at all these different products we can trade and sell, we have a great opportunity.

This important agreement also hits home on a personal note. My parents came to Canada from the Netherlands. They came to Cape Breton, and that is where we started our farm. We also trade. We sell strawberries to Iceland, calves to the Caribbean, and lettuce to the United States. As farmers, and as we have heard from farmers right across this country, whether it is beef farmers, canola farmers, or pork producers, we see this as a big opportunity.

In closing, when other countries are closing their doors to trade and immigrants, Canada is opening our doors. The benefits as a result of CETA for the Atlantic provinces are going to be tremendous. CETA is a modern, progressive trade agreement that could generate billions of dollars in bilateral trade and investment and provide greater choice and lower prices for consumers.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke quite rightly about the skill Canadian negotiators generally demonstrate at trade negotiation tables around the world, but it is an overstatement to say that it was a perfect job done on CETA.

I would like to get his comments on two different aspects of CETA.

First, the Europeans had some 170 geographic indications protected under CETA, and the Canadian negotiators received exactly zero, mainly because Canadian negotiators proposed not one geographic indication. There is no protection for Saskatoon berries, Montreal smoked meat, Nanaimo bars, maple syrup, nothing.

Second, Newfoundland gave up its minimum processing requirements for fish in exchange for a promise from the previous Conservative government of compensation in the amount of some $400 million, and it is adamant that it would not have given up the minimum processing requirements without that absolute pledge from the federal government.

Could my hon. colleague tell us what he thinks about CETA and its inability to get a single geographic indication protected for Canadian producers? Could he also tell us whether his government intends to honour the $400-million commitment made to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

3:40 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS

Madam Speaker, all of these countries in Europe ended up coming to the table. Not only that, but all the provinces and territories came to the table here. The member is talking about the geographic portion, but when all the premiers from across this country sat down, they agreed with the agreement. Witnesses did not bring those issues up.

This is a tremendous agreement. The Europeans say that it was almost a miracle to have that many countries agree on this agreement. So many provinces and territories in Canada agreed on this agreement.

The NDP has a hard time with some of these trade agreements, but I encourage that party to come on board with this one. It is not only going to help farmers and fishermen but is going to allow products here with lower tariffs. It is a tremendous agreement.

I know--

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

3:40 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

I just want to say that someone else has to ask a question as well, and there may be other people. The member could perhaps continue his thoughts then.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.