Debates of Dec. 7th, 2021

Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a very important industry, and we will always be there to make sure that we work with the workers and the entrepreneurs in the sector.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government failed on potatoes, energy and softwood lumber. What is the next shoe to drop? Has the government spoken with its counterparts in the United States? Has the foreign affairs minister talked to the United States about COOL?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade always raises important questions. She has been on this, as has the deputy minister. It was clearly part of the negotiations of CUSMA that we were able to make sure that we were fighting for it.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, will Canada's beef and pork industries be protected if the United States goes through with trying to implement country-of-origin labelling?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that we will always be there to defend our entrepreneurs and our workers. We know that when it comes to the U.S., many jobs on the U.S. side and on the Canadian side of the border are dependent on this relationship. That is why we want to make sure that we have a good relationship, but at the same time that we defend our interests.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have not done so with P.E.I. potatoes.

Is there a retaliation if the United States were to impose country-of-origin labelling on our beef and pork industries? Will the government retaliate, yes or no?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague can trust the government when it comes to negotiating with the United States. Also, he can trust that we have a good deal in CUSMA. That is exactly why we know that our farmers can count on having important access to the American and Mexican markets.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as part of our agreement, we have a trigger for a billion-dollar retaliation if the United States, as it is looking to do, has put a bill in place to bring back COOL. Will the Liberal government impose that retaliation if the United States goes ahead with country-of-origin labelling, yes or no?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not here to comment on hypotheses. I am here to ensure that I answer clear questions from my colleagues. I want to reassure the member that when it comes to a relationship with the United States, we want to work with the opposition, all the opposition, because it is important that we have a team Canada approach.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, will the Liberal government open an investigation under the Canada Transportation Act to resolve the shipping container crisis in Canada?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we will take the member's question under advisement and get back to him.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Here is the problem, Mr. Speaker. The United States has already taken action and now shipping lanes are being rerouted from Canada to the United States, bottlenecking agriculture commodities and manufactured products in Canada not having access to international markets.

Will the Liberal government take similar action, as the United States has done, impose fines and name a shipping czar to try to resolve this issue, yes or no?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, transportation and shipping are key elements of recovering from the pandemic. We take this issue seriously. We are working with our trading partners, and shippers and providers of transportation services in the country to get this matter sorted.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

The problem, Mr. Speaker, is the United States is kicking our butt because it is getting these things resolved and we are not.

The United States has also indicated that the Liberal policy of front-of-package labelling is a technical irritant under the barrier of trade. Does the Liberal government agree that its front-of-package labelling policy is a trade irritant with the United States?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to raise any form of trade irritants with the United States and with any other countries with which we have free trade agreements. That is also exactly why we have a mechanism that is very important in CUSMA, which is about settlement dispute mechanisms, which the Conservatives were against.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, does front-of-package labelling violate the CUSMA agreement?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to my colleague, should there be a trade irritant that violates CUSMA, we will take necessary action.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, you have heard a lot of issues we have with the United States and my first question is who is actually in charge of the relationship with the United States. Is it the Deputy Prime Minister, is it the Minister of Foreign Affairs or is it the Minister of International Trade?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague can count on the fact that we have a strong team Canada approach within cabinet, but also the Prime Minister is very much on this issue.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is interesting. Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of International Trade, plus two other ministers were in Washington talking about the relationship. However, this past week I was in Washington talking about electric vehicles and they were not even aware of it. In fact, the Minister of International Trade made that comment in Bloomberg.

Why was there no impact in the U.S. when they were down there?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is false. Many people in United States Congress and within the executive branch, particularly the White House and the different state and trade departments, are very much aware of the issue of electric vehicles.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Senator Marshall was not aware of it when I talked to him. In fact, his biggest concern was the cancellation of Keystone. He lost a $1-billion investment in that refinery. His question to us was why we did not fight for it.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to fight for the national interest and work with our workers in the oil and gas sector. I hope my colleague was able to convey the importance of our auto sector while he was in Washington, because that was the goal of our mission there.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know that myself, because I was not included in any of her meetings. The only things I was included in were the round tables with the home builders and labour unions. All four of the labour unions asked why we did not stand up for jobs with Keystone. They said that they lost so many jobs because of the cancellation of Keystone and they asked me where we were.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. knows very well that Canada is the first supplier of oil and gas and, of course, Keystone XL is a very important tool to ensure it has access to our market. We will continue to raise this issue with the administration in the U.S.