Debates of May 17th, 2017

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development—Main Estimates, 2016-17

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Questions and comments, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Madam Chair, in 2016, bilateral trade between Canada and the United States totalled $672 billion in merchandise. Imports and exports of services totalled $125 billion in 2015. Last year, the United States' direct investment in Canada was $392 billion. These are huge numbers. The stock of Canadian investment in the United States last year was $474 billion. The bottom line is that Canadian companies invested more Canadian wealth in the United States than the United States invested in Canada. Therefore, not only are we its biggest client, we are also its biggest investor. That is a lot of money, and that of course is the way it is.

However, our relationship with the U.S. is more than just numbers. Can the minister elaborate on the advantages of a North American free trade agreement with the United States?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, as we have just heard, Canadians have known for a long time that the parliamentary secretary is a fantastic soldier. We are now learning that he is a terrific salesman for Canada, and I think we should all be grateful to him for his eloquence, some of which we have just heard.

One of the things that we have all been spending some time talking to our American partners about is making sure they are aware of the depth and importance of the economic relationship with Canada. As Canadians, we all appreciate that we tend to think about the United States and are a little more aware of the United States than it is about us. That is what happens when we are one-tenth the size. As the parliamentary secretary has just mentioned, what really is surprising and gets the attention of Americans is pointing out that we are by far the largest client of the United States.

We read a lot and hear a lot in the U.S. media about China. However, the reality is that the single largest market for the United States is Canada. That is an important point to ensure our American partners appreciate, and something that I think all of us have been explaining very effectively on our many trips and engagements with the United States.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise tonight in committee of the whole to delve into the main estimates and to question the cabinet ministers who are here with us tonight. I appreciate their being with us and taking the time to answer all our questions.

First, I have to thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs for her support of Bill S-226, the justice for victims of corrupt foreign officials legislation, the Sergei Magnitsky law, which I am sponsoring in the House on behalf of Senator Raynell Andreychuk of the other place. The minister has long had a passion for this, as someone from the Ukrainian community in Canada. I am proud of those same roots, being a Prairie Ukrainian kid off the farm. The bill is incredibly important for going after corrupt foreign officials.

The legislation really comes as a result of an individual by the name of Sergei Magnitsky, who was a lawyer working on behalf of Bill Browder in Russia. Unfortunately for him, he uncovered this incredible corrupt scheme of taxes and money laundering. He was falsely accused, arrested, tortured and murdered while in prison in Moscow. Bill Browder has taken it upon himself to raise the spectre of this problem.

As the minister has already said, this was a bill in the last Parliament. It received unanimous support and passed. Our former colleague Irwin Cotler brought forward the first version of the bill and I tabled a similar bill in this place. Senator Raynell Andreychuk has really taken it to a new level. She has gone beyond just corrupt foreign officials and those governments with human rights abuses against their citizens. It also goes after those individuals and governments that go after individuals based upon religion, ethnicity, sex and gender. These things are now in the bill, and I congratulate the senator for doing that.

The minister said that the government would be supporting Bill S-226, but with some amendments. I know we have chatted about this, but if there are going to be amendments, what type of amendments are we looking at? How will that change the flow of the bill coming through the House for expedient passage?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman for his hard work in general, but also very specifically on Bill S-226. The member has been working on this for a long time. This is really a special moment when we can come together in support.

I want to join him also in acknowledging the hard work of our colleague Senator Raynell Andreychuk. This is an example of not only cross-party collaboration, but also an example of the Senate and the House working together.

I want to thank the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman for joining me in celebrating the pioneering work of our former colleague Irwin Cotler, who has really been a leading voice on this. I am glad to be able to recognize him for that.

I also want to underscore that I was particularly glad to hear the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie also acknowledge in her remarks that she supported Bill S-226. To me, that augurs well for us getting the support of the whole House.

The member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman is absolutely right. I discussed with him just today the fact that there were some amendments, largely of a technical nature, that we would like to discuss with him. The cross-party support that was demonstrated in the committee's report and in our discussions today can really be carried through with some of those amendments.

We would like to discuss some technical amendments to make this work better. For example, as we know from problems we have had with no-fly lists, it is important that when someone is put on a list, there be some right of appeal. Believe it or not, government officials, even MPs, can get things wrong sometimes. I know that is astonishing. It is important to have a process that allows people to appeal.

There are some other technical amendments, but I do not have time to mention them right now. I would be happy to do so later.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I appreciate the information from the minister.

As the minister is aware, Bill Browder did a bunch of research into Canada being used as a safe haven to launder money from corrupt officials, including those in Russia. Recently he came out with a report that there were over 30 Canadian banks used by Russian shell companies to move over $20 million through our banking system.

When we get the Magnitsky law in place, will there be mechanisms in place and resources provided to the RCMP, CSIS, and other organizations to ensure that our financial institutions are not being used to hide away money that has been obtained through corrupt means?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I am very aware of the research which the member opposite refers to. I would also like to commend Canadian journalists. They have done a really good job reporting on this. They have captured the attention of a lot of Canadians and have made us aware in ways that many Canadians may not have been previously that our country also has been used as a haven for ill-gotten gains of corrupt foreign officials. That is something which no Canadian can support, and that is the reason Bill S-226 will have not only, I hope, unanimous support in this House, but also support across the country.

In terms of providing the resources to be sure that once we get the legislation in place we are able to act on it, I and the government have every intention of doing so.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I appreciate the minister's frank responses to the questions that are being asked.

Her predecessor, Stéphane Dion, was not always that forthcoming and sometimes offered answers that at times bewildered us in the opposition, as well as others in the Canadian media and the public's eye. He rejected the implementation of the Magnitsky law. He said he did not want to antagonize the Putin regime. He did not want to put in place any policies that would alienate Russia further, when actually it looked more like it was appeasement that the government was engaged in. He had a philosophy that he called responsible conviction. Part of this philosophy included the appeasement of Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime.

Now that the minister is in charge, and she has been doing a commendable job, is it still her department's policy to have responsible conviction as a framework for the government's foreign affairs policy internationally?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, through you, let me just say to the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman I am well aware that I have many flaws, as do all mortal people, but appeasement of Russia is not something I have often been accused of.

I do believe it is important for Canada to be able to have frank conversations with the Russian government. In Fairbanks, Alaska, last Wednesday and Thursday, I had the opportunity to speak with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian minister of foreign affairs, and I plan to continue to do so. It is important for Canada to have a voice and to speak directly with Russia.

I was very clear in those conversations that, as I said earlier this evening, we stand very strongly with Ukraine and are very strongly opposed to the invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Ukrainian territory, not only or even not principally because of the shared Ukrainian heritage of some members of Parliament, but because this is a violation of the rules-based international order. That is why Canada and our G7 allies and our NATO allies have to say that cannot stand.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I appreciate that, and it is a different approach from what her predecessor took. As members know, the minister and I have both been banned from Russia and we wear that as a badge of honour, although I know it makes her job more difficult in actually being able to travel to certain places to engage in foreign policy.

The minister brought up the issue of Ukraine. I would like to go down that path, because again, her predecessor, Stéphane Dion, withdrew some critical assistance that had been provided by the former Conservative government to Ukraine to monitor the situation in Donbass with the Russian war that was being waged on the people of Ukraine by providing RADARSAT images. Budget restraint was the reason given for removing the RADARSAT images.

Does the minister plan on restarting the supply of RADARSAT imagery so that our friends in Ukraine have a better handle on what the Russians are doing in Donbass?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I would like to, again, thank the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman for his focus on Ukraine. This is an issue in which Canada is engaged not only in our bilateral relationship with Ukraine, and in our direct conversations with Russia, but in collaboration with our partners. In fact, as we can see not only from our readout, but from the readout of secretaries Tillerson and Mattis, it is an issue that came up on Monday night at our supper in Washington. Canada can play a very strong and important role on the Ukraine issue in a way that supports our friends and allies in Ukraine, and also helps to reinforce the international rules-based order.

As the member opposite knows, the Minister of National Defence and I were pleased to extend Operation Unifier. I want to acknowledge here that this was the right thing to do for the previous government, to put that in place, and we were glad to continue that work. As the member opposite also knows well—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I appreciate the comments from the minister. I am glad to see the government extended Operation Unifier. I am proud of the job our troops are doing over there in training Ukraine forces up to NATO standards, and getting them better prepared for dealing with the aggression they are experiencing in Donbass.

She started down the path talking about the Canada-Ukraine defence co-operation agreement that was previously negotiated by Jason Kenney when he was minister of national defence. It has been formalized and signed-off by the government, and I appreciate that. In that agreement, have there been discussions between the Government of Canada and the government of Ukraine to put Ukraine on the controlled arms list? Will the government be providing lethal defensive weapons to our friends in Ukraine to deal with the Russian aggression, the Russian equipment, and the Russian weapons being used against the innocent people of Ukraine?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, four hours seems like a long time, but I am finding I do not have enough time to say everything I need to say. I just want to go back for a moment, if I may, to some of the previous comments.

The member opposite and I agree about many things, but I want to underscore perhaps a point of difference, and that is to say how grateful I am for the fantastic work that Minister Dion did as foreign minister, and in a very distinguished career in public service in Canada.

As foreign minister, he really stepped up Canada's international role. He created some very important paths for dialogue, and raised our presence in the world. I want to say how honoured I am that I will have the opportunity to work with him as ambassador. He is going to represent all Canadians extremely well. I really wanted to get that on the record.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I want to move to the idea of UN peacekeeping, something the government promised during the campaign back in 2015. The government talked about it, but has gone silent since November. That was the last time we saw the Minister of National Defence actually address this issue, and he had to backtrack on timelines, and whether or not Canadian troops were going to be deployed.

In this budget, we see a reduction in funding from Canada to the United Nations peacekeeping operations. It is dropping $34 million. Is this a signal that Canada is going to be withdrawing from UN peacekeeping, and is this a signal that we will not be deploying our troops to Africa, probably to Mali and putting them in harm's way?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, we are strongly committed to peacekeeping. That was a campaign commitment, and something all Canadians strongly support. Canadians also believe that is a big decision that needs to be made very carefully. Whenever we put our troops in harm's way, we have to be very thoughtful about where that happens. We are fully committed, and we are going to make the right decision.

[Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Madam Chair, I am going to give a 10-minute speech, and leave five minutes for questions and answers with the minister.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to the committee today about issues that are priorities for the Government of Canada: promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.

I am proud to say that gender equality and empowering women and girls are now central to Canada's feminist approach to international development efforts.

Our approach is to identify gaps and obstacles that have an impact on the fundamental rights of girls and women, on their participation in decision-making, and on their access to and control over resources.

We are convinced that this is the best approach to reduce poverty and inequality and to build a more inclusive world. Let me explain why. First, let us be clear that poverty is sexist. Around the world, women and girls still face many challenges in realizing their full potential. Each year, an estimated 50 million girls under the age of 18 are forced into marriage. That is 50 million girls who are robbed of their opportunity to go to school and reach their full potential. Every year, out of desperation, an estimated 22 million girls and women endanger their lives by undergoing unsafe abortions. An estimated 62 million teenage girls in the world do not go to school or are frequently absent, double the number of boys, and in developing countries, women spend significantly more time than men on unpaid care, limiting their ability to invest their time in education, paid work, political and public participation, and leisure.

Second, women and girls are powerful agents of change who can drive progress toward peace, prosperity, and sustainable development. We know this, because when women and girls are part of the decision-making process, policies and programs are more effective and bring about real and lasting change. When women and girls have access to quality, safe education, their lives and the lives of those around them change for the better. They tend to marry later, have fewer children, provide better health, education, and nutrition for their families, and earn more than women without the advantage of schooling.

When women can participate in the economy on an equal footing with men, economic growth rates and income per capita increase, allowing people to be lifted out of poverty. When women and girls have access to information about their health and well-being and have agency over their sexual and reproductive health and rights, they are empowered in all aspects of their lives. Rates of unintended pregnancy, maternal mortality, and unsafe abortions go down and families thrive.

Adopting a feminist approach is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Canada can make a real difference in the lives of women and girls around the world while ensuring that its international assistance provides the greatest development impact benefit for all.

Canada's commitment to the empowerment of women and girls received an overwhelmingly positive reception through the international assistance review. A wide array of partners and stakeholders emphasized the need to increase support to feminist and women's and girls' rights movements and women-led initiatives and to address the root causes of poverty, including gender-based discrimination, inequality, and harmful social norms.

Over the past month, we have been making it clear to our partners and stakeholders that this is the way forward for Canada's international assistance, and we have been busy delivering on our commitment to be a leader in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. This is why we are supporting a comprehensive approach to close existing gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights as a top priority.

To mark International Women's Day, the right hon. Prime Minister, along with the hon. Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced an investment of $650 million over three years in funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Canada's support will focus specifically on providing comprehensive sexuality education, strengthening reproductive health services, and investing in family planning and contraceptives. Programs aided by this announcement will help prevent, and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, including child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and cutting, and support for the right to choose safe and legal abortions as well as access to post-abortion care.

We have also increased spending on programming that targets the specific needs of women and girls in conflict situations. For example, as part of the $1.1 billion package for the Middle East, Canada is providing $40.5 million in multi-year programming on sexual and gender-based violence with the UNFPA in response to the Syria and Iraq crises, to include reproductive health services, as well as assistance to women and girls who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence.

Moving forward, we will take an active stance for gender equality and women's human rights in all bilateral, multilateral and international fora, and in mobilizing our partners. We will continue to prioritize gender equality initiatives starting with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including sexual and gender-based violence, and supports to women's organizations and movements, including women's rights organizations, and we will strengthen the integration of gender equality results across all other interventions from education, to food security, to climate action.

To make a real difference, we will ensure that the empowerment of women and girls is not a check box at the bottom of a form. We want to see women and girls involved in the decision-making process, so they can shape the services, programming, and policies that touch their lives. We want to see them in positions of leadership.

Finally, we are committing to a high degree of accountability for achieving gender equality results supported by a system to measure impact, and by reporting concrete results to Canadians. Looking ahead, we are eager to release Canada's new international assistance policy statement which will tackle gender inequalities, address significant obstacles faced by women and girls all around the world, and recognize the active role that women and girls can and must play in society for everyone's benefit.

I will now take the opportunity to ask the minister a few questions. In the course of our discussions, we talked about the need for increased levels of need around the world, and the capacity for us to look at ODA and private funding, and find a medium between the two. I know the minister has talked about the development finance institute, and how it is aligned with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the sustainable development goals as well as the Paris agreement.

Could the minister elaborate on how the DFI relates to our official development at this stage?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my parliamentary secretary for giving me a chance to clarify an answer I gave my colleague from Essex earlier. There was a challenge there with respect to our two official languages, so to avoid confusion, I will say this:

DFI will complement other forms of assistance by leveraging additional private sector resources and expertise to support international development goals. The Canadian DFI financial support will be additional and complementary to Canada's ODA. As such it would not be subject to the ODA Accountability Act. The DFI will be established as a wholly owned subsidiary of EDC—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.

[Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Chair, another part of the minister's responsibilities include the Francophonie. My comments mentioned increased needs, and I believe that many Francophonie countries face important development needs as they are unfortunately among the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change, conflict, and demographic changes.

Canada was well represented at the Francophonie summit in Madagascar with a delegation led by our Prime Minister. How does the minister plan to go about supporting the ever-increasing needs, particularly for the African Francophonie countries?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, yes, the needs are great and, unfortunately, are most keenly felt in a number of countries of the Francophonie that are among the poorest on the planet.

At the Madagascar summit, Canada and Benin put forward a joint resolution to fight early and forced child marriage, which is an impediment to the education of girls and, ultimately, to their full participation in the economy.

We also used the opportunity to reaffirm our support for Africa. I will share the details of our renewed commitment when the new policy is announced. For now, I can say that our investments in sexual and reproductive health and our commitment to women and girls will have a major impact in our partner countries in the Francophonie.

[Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Chair, I would like to talk about the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria, as well as the impact on the region in countries such as Jordan and Lebanon that have dealt with a massive influx of refugees.

Early in 2016, we announced a new approach in response to these crises. This approach includes security, diplomatic, humanitarian, and development efforts.

We know the minister travelled to Iraq and Jordan not too long ago. I would like to know what Canada is doing to support the most affected people in this region.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, one of the key objectives of the approach is helping those most affected by the crises.

To meet this goal, Canada is working with experienced Canadian, local, and international partners to deliver $840 million in humanitarian assistance over three years. Our partners appreciate this multi-year commitment, because it allows them to plan for the long term. Our support is helping meet the basic needs of those hardest hit by the conflict, including food, shelter, health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as protection and emergency education.

[Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to talk a little about environmental sustainability.

We know that this year we have broken a record, with an unprecedented 65.3 million people around the world who have been forced from home. Climate refugees account for one-third of these people.

While people try to adapt to natural disasters and drought, many have to move to another place in order to simply survive. To address this new challenge, what does Canada do and how can our actions help to reduce the number of refugees?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, Canada has committed to contributing $2.65 billion over five years as part of our international assistance to support efforts and measures taken by the poorest and most vulnerable countries to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Canada's contribution will be made through various mechanisms and instruments and will focus on essential actions, such as helping developing countries adapt to climate change, deploy renewable energy technologies, and manage risks associated with severe weather events. We will also be making significant contributions in the area of sustainable agriculture.