Mr. Chair, I am appearing tonight before the House of Commons committee of the whole to discuss the 2017-18 main estimates for Global Affairs Canada. I will be discussing trade opportunities and trade services in Canada.
In 2002, I earned an international trade designation, CITP, in Ottawa. Following my election in 2015, I was proud to be named to the Standing Committee on International Trade. I am honoured to represent the riding of New Brunswick Southwest. My riding borders four federal ridings in New Brunswick, as well as the state of Maine.
International trade and investments are crucial to inclusive economic growth, growing the middle class, encouraging innovation, and creating well-paying jobs in Canada and, more specifically for me, in Atlantic Canada.
The relationship between communities in New Brunswick Southwest and Maine is close and strong. For example, we share a mutual aid agreement for fire services and first responders. When there is a structural fire in New Brunswick Southwest, for example, in St. Stephen, the Calais, Maine fire department responds, and it is pre-cleared.
To date, I have held 17 town halls across my riding. At the most recent town hall in the village of McAdam, six miles from a U.S. border crossing, three Americans appeared out of interest. They stayed for the meeting and listened intently to the discussion, particularly the discussion on the risk of job losses on the American side if disruptions in trade between Canada and U.S. occurred.
At the end, they talked with me privately about how the end of NAFTA was incorrectly misunderstood in their communities as positively impacting economic growth. They were taking the discussion points home and sharing them with their friends and family members. They hoped to return for future town halls in my riding, and invite others.
As border MPs, we have a unique opportunity to include our American friends in our discussions. In my area, we see ourselves as one region
. This spring I hosted, with the St. Stephen chamber of commerce, a trade and opportunities luncheon. Almost 70 people attended. Presenting at the luncheon included, Export Development Canada, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Business Development Bank of Canada, Women in Business, Opportunities New Brunswick, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and other area chambers.
We engaged in discussions about Canada trade services, on how we could help foster businesses, and help them grow through international trade. Our conversations focused on how our government could utilize our strengths of services and sectors to create new opportunities for Canadian businesses to connect business to business, and how our businesses could access international markets.
Fifty per cent of Canadian businesses are not exporting in its second year. I have heard from businesses in my riding that there exists a need to increase the awareness and promote the opportunities that trade can bring to micro-sized businesses, which have one to four employees, and small to medium-sized businesses as well. We need to work with these businesses and support their growth. Disruptions in trade with the United States will risk jobs on both sides of the border. Our American friends and neighbours I have spoken with are concerned, too, about jobs, growing the middle class, expanding opportunities for young people, and caring for seniors.
The Government of Canada is committed to inclusive economic growth, growing the middle class, encouraging innovation, and creating policies and programs to create well-paying jobs in Canada. This government is committed to expanding our trade relationships and has already given Canadian businesses access to more markets than ever before, whether through CETA, CUFTA, or our current discussions on NAFTA.
The opportunity to grow business on the international stage is profound, and Canada is in a place of strength to begin expanding our businesses internationally through trade. We continue to work with our American counterparts to strengthen and expand ties, and there exists a high demand for Canadian products and services.
Our government already has strong support services and well-integrated Canadian consulates. Many of our banks in Canada are fully integrated in foreign markets, and some are the strongest in the world. Canadian-owned businesses also benefit from an active Canadian consulate. These consulates work to promote businesses abroad.
Our government continues to emphasize a whole-of-government approach, which is why we offer services like the trade commissioner services. We see ministries and departments working together, whether it is innovation, science, economic development, international trade, foreign affairs, small business, tourism, immigration, refugees and citizenship.
We have a great, strong network in Canada of chambers of commerce. I remember in my early days of teaching international trade an excellent program, the export partnering program, that was federally funded in our area through ACOA. It would connect a busy business owner with a student either at a community college or a university. The student did the legwork and the homework the business owner did not have time to do. The success rate for those students and businesses in that engagement was exponential.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Trade have done outstanding jobs using these strengths in the Canadian system and working with our international partners to create opportunities. By signing and ratifying the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement, as well as the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, our government has given our businesses the opportunity to explore new markets through free trade.
Members of the Standing Committee on International Trade have heard from witnesses about the trade opportunities, whether it is the harmonization of standards; increased awareness of how trade will benefit citizens and businesses on both sides of the border; smart and more efficient border crossings, not the thinning or thickening of the border; the modernization of NAFTA; the possibility of pre-clearance for people and cargo, integrated law enforcement between Canada and the United States; and wraparound services.
Ratifying free trade agreements, with the best deal for Canadians in mind, is critical. We have more work to do to best prepare our young entrepreneurs, our micro-businesses, and our small and medium-sized businesses to take advantage of trade opportunities and supply chains. Therein rest many opportunities for businesses that want to grow through trade. We must ensure that our government continues to support and foster businesses as they begin to trade internationally.
One service that has helped businesses grow through trade is the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, or TCS. The TCS assists Canadian businesses of all sizes in all sectors and in every region across Canada. The vast majority of Canadian companies are small, and the assistance trade commissioners provide is essential in helping them navigate the complexities associated with doing business abroad.
If I may share a funny story with the House, a few years ago, when teaching international trade, I recall a company that had contacted another company in Georgia. The person on the end of the phone in Georgia asked, “Are you registered with the virtual trade commissioner service?” The Canadian company said, “No”, and the person hung up. The Canadian company called back, the same question was asked, and the response was the same. The person in Georgia hung up. The Canadian company called back a third time and said, “Just hold it, I've registered”, and the person asked, “How can I help you?”
Turning to education, in 2014, some 338,000 international students generated $11.4 billion in spending, supporting some 123,000 jobs in communities in every province across Canada. The international education sector generated over $2.1 billion in tax revenue for all levels of government.
The TCS's EduCanada program, jointly developed with the provincial and territorial governments, complements the work of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to better attract and retain top student talent and allow Canada to compete with well-funded competitors, such as Australia and New Zealand, in this highly competitive sector.
The TCS helps communities and businesses prepare to enter international markets, assesses their likelihood of achieving success in their target markets, provides qualified local contacts, and gives advice and assistance in resolving business problems.
The TCS is well positioned to help Canadian businesses with its network of international business support services in more than 160 offices abroad and through five regional offices across Canada.
In closing, I would once again like to thank the Minister of International Trade and the Minister of Foreign Affairs for their tireless work in promoting Canada's trade interests abroad while also working with Canadian businesses to best support them as they grow and trade internationally.
My first questions tonight are about finding solutions for stronger partnerships and about our bilateral and trilateral trade in North America.
NAFTA is a 25-year-old agreement that could benefit from upgrading and improvements to help North America be more competitive with other nations. Consider that when it was first negotiated, the Internet did not exist. We have a North American integrated supply chain. There is no trade-off between border security and efficiency in our integrated supply chain. What are the opportunities for greater integration of the North American supply chain? How can we better use technology to more efficiently, in terms of time and cost, pre-clear our cargo and citizens?
