Jim Carr

[International Trade, May 13th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the member is not paying attention to what the Premier of Saskatchewan has said, nor is he paying attention to the expansion of export markets, nor is he paying attention to the very interesting meeting that the Minister of Agriculture had in Japan with her counterpart. We will know more about that in a matter of days.

[International Trade, May 13th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that the hon. member has not been paying closer attention to the file. If he had been paying closer attention to the file, he would know that there has been continuous engagement and that we seek to be invited to China to talk to the scientists about the accusation that there is impurity in our canola.

Second, had he been paying attention to the generous support for producers, which has been called a very important—

[International Trade, May 6th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to engage with China at the scientific level. We announced last week a generous support package for producers, which by the way, has the support of the Premier of Saskatchewan, of the Canola Council of Canada, of producers and of trade ministers across the west. We continue to look for other markets for canola. We have taken no possibility and no other action off the table.

[International Trade, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, maybe I should speak in softer tones so the members will listen.

We are the only G7 country with a free trade agreement with the other six. We are in an enviable position worldwide. Already the results are in that because of these negotiations, our exports are increasing—

[International Trade, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberal government came to power, we have signed trade agreements with the European Union, NAFTA 2.0 and the CPTPP, meaning that 1.5 billion customers around the world are in our free trade zone. We are the only G7 country that has a free trade agreement with the other six.

[International Trade, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, in this federation, when an industry, a sector or a region is suffering pain, the country reacts, as the country reacted this week. It was also the best of Canadian federalism, because not only was it the Government of Canada, it was the Premier of Saskatchewan, it was ministers of trade across the west, it was the Canola Council itself and it was producers working as one. The only ones who are offside are the Conservatives in the House.

[International Trade, May 3rd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that we have three pillars of strategy. One is to engage the Chinese at the scientific level. The other is to provide a support program for producers, and there is alignment across the country, including provincial governments, the industry and the canola association itself, and another is to expand our export markets. We intend to do that through trade missions to Japan, to Korea, to Europe and to South America. We understand that this is a very difficult moment for our producers. We stand with them.

[Foreign Affairs, May 2nd, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to remind members opposite of what the Premier of Saskatchewan had to say yesterday about the plan we announced to support canola producers. He said, “the federal government has shown that they do support western Canadian agriculture” and he said, “we are going to support the federal government in these decisions from this day on, as we have always indicated we will.”

The Canola Association supports us. The premier of Saskatchewan supports us. Growers support us. The industry supports us. It is only those Conservatives who do not support us.

[International Trade, April 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Sydney—Victoria for his leadership and for all his work on the trade committee.

While it is still early, I am delighted to report that the results are nothing short of outstanding. Canada's exports of dutiable products to Japan rose by 17.1% in January and February, and some Canadian beef exports have doubled compared to last year.

Our trade diversification strategy is working. We are creating wealth. We are creating new markets and new jobs for Canadians.

[Pharmacare, April 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are proud of their health care system, we believe that no one should have to choose between paying for prescriptions and putting food on the table. That is why we are laying the foundation for national pharmacare with several bold, concrete steps in budget 2019 that could lower drug costs by up to $3 billion a year. We look forward to continuing this progress when we receive the pharmacare council's final report in the coming months.