Mr. Speaker, we did not agree with the United States position in the recent trade talks which included a sub-cap on durum under the total cap on wheat that it had proposed. It is not our present intention to agree to such a sub-cap.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1993, with 61% of the vote.
Wheat Quotas April 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we did not agree with the United States position in the recent trade talks which included a sub-cap on durum under the total cap on wheat that it had proposed. It is not our present intention to agree to such a sub-cap.
Wheat Exports April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, most emphatically, yes.
Despite persistent United States efforts to link agricultural problems, there are agricultural differences between our two countries. We reject any such linkage. We shall deal with each issue on its merits. Certainly in the case of wheat we very much share the point of view just outlined by the member opposite.
Wheat Exports April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his kind comments.
The situation with regard to wheat is that we have engaged in continuing discussions with the United States for some months, culminating in some meetings in Marrakech where we had hoped to resolve the issue. However the United States and Canadian positions remain far apart.
It is open to Canada and to the United States to continue those negotiations or discussions if the United States chooses to pursue them. The United States has indicated that it had hoped to resolve the issue by Friday. We will have to see whether the decision of the United States by Friday is to proceed with discussions or to take some other action.
Aluminium Industry March 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the current difficulties in the aluminium industry basically arise from the supply excess from Russia.
I believe the glut that is now on the international market will resolve itself through the more orderly marketing of Russian excess production and in the near future we will see a return to more normal circumstances in the world aluminium trade.
Aluminium Industry March 22nd, 1994
No, Mr. Speaker, the smelter in South Africa will not come on stream until late 1996. I do not believe at that time there will be any adverse impact on the prospects of Canadian aluminium companies and workers.
Aluminium Industry March 22nd, 1994
No, Mr. Speaker. It is our expectation that any excess supplies on world markets will disappear by the time the proposed refinery comes into full operation. We do not believe it will have any adverse impact on the Canadian aluminium industry.
Aluminium Industry March 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, when I spoke on a previous occasion about the number of companies participating it was under the umbrella of SNC-Lavalin in Montreal which has the contract for the design of the plant.
The other companies that are gaining the benefit are suppliers to and associates of the principal contractor.
Questions On The Order Paper March 18th, 1994
The negotiating agenda of the Uruguay round of the GATT encompassed a wide range of issues. Accordingly, government officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Department of Finance, Agriculture Canada, Industry Canada (incorporating the former department of consumer and corporate affairs and Investment Canada), as well as Department of Canadian Heritage, Ministry of Transport, Government Services and Justice, took part in the negotiations.
Given the number of officials involved over the two year period covered in the request, it is impractical to track down and list each individual. As such, listed below are the names of our chief negotiator and ambassador to the GATT and the assistant deputy minister, multilateral trade negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Ministers of the crown assume full responsibility for all policy decisions taken by the government during the GATT negotiations.
Ambassador G.E. Shannon, Canadian ambassador to the GATT and chief negotiator, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; appointed 1990
Mr. Germain A. Denis, assistant deputy minister, multilateral trade negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; appointed 1988
Canadian Foreign Policy March 15th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I do not for one moment want to suggest that I have had misgivings about the abilities of officials in the department to develop and maintain close working relations with the Canadian private sector.
I think all of us would recognize, and I am sure the hon. member would do so, that the world is a rapidly changing place. Technology is evolving very rapidly in a way that suggests that new approaches to the relationship between the trade commissioner service on the one hand and the Ottawa based staff on the other with the business community needs to be under constant review.
One way in which we are giving current expression to that is to examine the ways in which financing is provided to Canadian companies for their export sales. Quite obviously there are limited total resources within the country, whether they come from government or the private sector, to bring about that support.
We are talking with the banks at the moment about how we might better co-operate together on export financing. We are looking in particular, as I noted in passing in my statement, at the possibility of more financing being available to small and medium sized businesses that are interested in getting into the export world, a world that often is bewildering to them and where they need some assistance from either federal or provincial governments and from the banks to participate actively in the export world.
Therein is an example of an area where we are actively looking at some initiatives to see whether we can tie the work of the department and of the Export Development Corporation yet more closely to the private sector interests.
Canadian Foreign Policy March 15th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the member brings forward a valuable question in terms of the intended purposes of foreign aid. I am sure that others during the course of this debate will want to comment on that broad question as well.
With regard to the specific question the hon. member raises, the commercial relations of our aid program, commercial involvement in our CIDA program can often bring real benefit. I think in particular of how in a number of instances in which a sale of Canadian goods or services is envisaged in a recipient country, a Third World country, quite often CIDA can provide
the training element that can make a greater reality of the investment. I have in mind the instances where Canadian companies have entered into joint ventures or even direct investment in a Third World country where quite obviously a short term problem is going to be the absence of local people capable of working in that factory or industry. In those instances CIDA has often been able to provide the financing for the training which enables the local people to participate in the new industries involved.