Debates of May 31st, 2021

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development—Main Estimates, 2021-22

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I had the very good opportunity to meet with my USTR counterpart at a free trade commission recently, and while there, I always tout the importance of our agri-food and our agriculture sector, including—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, it is too bad that the minister does not seem to care about Canada's dairy industry.

Did she bring up the United States' decision to dispute the free trade agreement on the grounds that the Canadian market was closed to the U.S.? Did she bring this up with her counterpart?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, we are certainly disappointed that the United States requested a dispute settlement panel, but what I would say is that we are very confident in the administration of CUSMA and that we take our obligations seriously and that we are in compliance.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, does the minister acknowledge her part in the failures regarding the cap on the sale of non-fat dairy solids and the loss of sovereignty over dairy policy in the latest agreement, which means that this agreement was poorly negotiated for Canadian dairy farmers?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, we will always stand up for our Canadian dairy industry and protect Canada's supply-managed system, which is what we are doing. We will continue to do this with our American counterparts. We are confident, as I said, that we are meeting our obligations under CUSMA.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, why have the minister and the government still not announced compensation for supply-managed dairy farmers in connection with CUSMA?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, we absolutely believe in a strong supply-managed system. It is critical to our farmers and to Canada's food security, and we will always defend it. We have not granted further access to supply-managed sectors in—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, when will the compensation be announced for Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade for the products of Canadian farmers and dairy farmers?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, we have committed $1.7 billion of compensation to our dairy farmers. We continue to stand up for them and the terrific contribution they make to Canada's economy.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, no compensation figures for CUSMA have been announced, yet the minister claims to defend the dairy industry and know her portfolio.

Can the minister tell us when supply-managed producers will get details about the compensation for CUSMA?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to assure the hon. member that our work here and the protection of the supply-managed agricultural producers, farmers and workers is something that we work steadfastly on. I work with my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, to support their long-term success. We have committed $1.75 billion in compensation for our dairy farmers. We will continue to stand up for our Canadian dairy farmers.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, the minister does not know the difference between the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the recent Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

I am not talking about the $1.7 billion for the two other announcements.

When will compensation for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement be announced?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to assure the hon. member that we will continue to work to support our dairy farmers in Quebec and throughout Canada.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, my questions will be for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On June 12, 2018, the minister stood in the House and voted yea, along with the Prime Minister and the public safety minister and with an overwhelming majority of members, 248 yeas to only 45 nays, in favour of a motion to immediately designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a listed terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada. This was for the entire IRGC, not just our Conservative government's listing of the Quds Force, behind which the public safety minister regularly attempts to dodge the question.

Why do this minister, now responsible for foreign affairs, and the Prime Minister continue to defy the will of Parliament and their own votes in favour of the motion to list one of the worst terror organizations in the world today?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Madam Chair, in fact it was under my hon. colleague's government that the Quds Force was listed as a terrorist entity, and we agree with that; and several other regional terrorist groups that Iran finances have also been listed as terrorist entities. We have also sanctioned individuals in the IRGC as well as entities including the missile command and the air force command. We believe that the sanctions that have been applied are the right ones to apply against those different organizations.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, that answer brings one to recall a very different but similarly controversial vote when the minister improperly attempted to abstain from the Uighur genocide motion on behalf of the entire Government of Canada. He and the cabinet did not vote at all, even though most Liberal MPs did vote yea.

Back to the IRGC and Iran, given that a judge of the Ontario Superior Court has now ruled that the shooting down of the Ukraine International Airlines flight was an intentional act of terrorism, why will he and the Prime Minister not fulfill the will of Parliament now and list the IRGC as they voted?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Madam Chair, there are a lot of things that we have said about the Iran government. It is a state sponsor of terrorism. It is a country that does not respect human rights. It is a country that is always trying to defy its denuclearization obligations. We will continue to criticize Iran, going forward, and will not hesitate to do so.

With respect to PS752, we have taken note of the judgment of the judge in Ontario and we, of course, are working toward ensuring that the families of the victims receive the proper compensation through negotiations.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, in 2017, a petition signed by 15,000 Canadians called on the Government of Canada to achieve the release and return of two Israeli bodies held by the Hamas terror regime in Gaza. Now today, as the minister mentioned, Egypt is attempting, at very long odds, to achieve a lasting and durable truce between Hamas and Israel. Canada has just committed $25 million in aid to Gaza.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs is the one who is dealing with the Egyptian initiative, might it not now be appropriate to make this financial assistance conditional on the return of those two Israeli bodies and two other Israeli captives?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Madam Chair, we know that one thing Israel is negotiating for is the return of the two bodies and the two civilians. Our $25 million in humanitarian assistance is intended to go to, first of all, the most pressing basic needs, such as food, water and medicines, and to funding for reconstruction and what we call peacebuilding. That is how Canada is assisting in Gaza. We think this is an important contribution that will help to stabilize things.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, Ambassador Rae was a principled politician, and he is a principled diplomat. However, any Canadian familiar with the last century of international politics knows that the policy positions Canada often speaks to at the United Nations today are as anachronistic as they were at the time when a majority of member nations of the world body were democratic.

I know the minister is relatively new in his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but I am wondering if he believes that time is overdue for Canada to more forcefully champion meaningful reform of the United Nations, which in many ways is a dysfunctional and corrupt organization.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Madam Chair, the United Nations is not a perfect organization. It has many bodies, some of which perform extremely well and others which could do better in terms of reform. Canada has taken the position that it is important for us to engage with this global multilateral organization to make positive contributions to its functioning. We believe that role, rather than simply criticizing, is the best approach for making the United Nations the organization that we would all like it to be.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, the Liberal government has repeatedly accepted implausible assurances from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that Canadian dollars are not misused to condition Palestinian children to hate and to aspire to terrorism and martyrdom in war against the State of Israel. Successive and respected NGOs have regularly provided hard evidence that UNRWA's teachers and the teaching materials they use, which we have heard discussed again tonight, deny the legitimate existence of Israel, glorify terrorism and encourage children to wage jihad against Israel.

To the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the minister responsible for the entire department, when will Canadians stop hearing empty promises to investigate, stop the funnelling—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to allow for the minister to respond.

The hon. minister.