International Trade  Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member and Canadians that our government will always stand up for Canadian businesses and our workers. Canada and the United States have agreed to consult closely to avoid any measures that could constrain bilateral trade and economic growth between our two countries.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, to Canadian business and workers, I want them to know that our government is actively engaging with our American counterparts at all levels and that we are always going to stand up for the best interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister raised this in his discussion with President Biden and also spoke with Vice-President Harris about strengthening this trade relationship for the benefit of both countries and to avoid any unintended consequences of the buy American policies.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we are taking a team Canada approach, as we have done over the last five years. The Prime Minister has spoken to the President. He has also spoken to the Vice President. Our terrific ambassador in the U.S. is having discussions at all levels. I am looking forward to speaking to my counterpart, once that confirmation process has taken place.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to work with my provincial and territorial colleagues. It was just very recently that we had a very good meeting at the provincial, territorial and federal level to talk about trade, that road to recovery, and indeed, how we will work together with provinces and territories on this road to recovery to ensure that Canadian businesses and our workers have the full support of all of us, working as team Canada.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, I want Canadian businesses and workers to know that we are actively engaging with our American partners at all levels and we will always stand up for the interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister raised this in his call to President Biden, that workers in both our countries benefit from the integrated resilient supply chains.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, we will always stand up for the interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister spoke with the U.S. President and Vice-President and emphasized that workers must benefit from our integrated supply chains. The Prime Minister and the President agreed to consult closely to avoid any measures that may constrain trade between our two countries.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Surrey—Newton for his strong voice for small businesses. We know many small businesses continue to be hard hit by this pandemic and continue to face restrictions, and are protecting the health and safety of their employees and their customers.

Health  Mr. Speaker, our government and I have been in contact with our counterparts at the European Union as well as with the member states on this very important issue. Over the past week I have reiterated to my counterparts that our expectation is that their mechanism will not affect vaccine shipments to Canada.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the exemption list largely includes developing countries and states from the European single market. Many of our long-standing international partners, including New Zealand or Japan, were also not included on this list, but me be clear: We have been repeatedly assured, in my discussions with my counterparts and in the Prime Minister's conversation with President von der Leyen, that the EU's measures will not affect our vaccine shipments.

COVID-19 Emergency Response  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her continued advocacy for small businesses. From the very beginning of this pandemic, we have been listening to and working with businesses to make sure that there is a broad range of supports. I was very pleased, earlier this week, to announce an additional support, a lifeline support: the highly affected businesses program, otherwise called HASCAP.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we continue to work with the European Union. We are absolutely seized with this. We understand how important this is and how urgent this is, which is why I spoke to my EU counterpart yesterday and why the Prime Minister spoke to the President. We will continue to work with the European Union on this matter, and as I said earlier, the EU measures will not affect the shipment of vaccines to Canada.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, I have been in contact with my EU counterpart as recently as yesterday, and the Prime Minister has spoken to the President. We are assured that the EU measures will not affect the shipment of vaccines to Canada. We will continue to work with the European Union, as we have throughout this pandemic.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Mr. Speaker, we will always stand up for the interests of Canadians. The Prime Minister spoke with the President and underscored that workers must benefit from our integrated supply chains. The Prime Minister and the President agreed to communicate with one another to avoid limiting trade between our two countries.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Mr. Speaker, our government will always stand up for Canadian businesses and Canadian workers. The Prime Minister and the President have agreed to consult closely to avoid any measures that may constrain economic growth in and bilateral trade between our two countries. Canada is the largest export market for the United States.

Health  Mr. Speaker, our government and I have been in contact with my EU counterpart. As the Prime Minister said in this House, the EU measures will not affect the shipment of vaccines to Canada. We will continue to work with the European Union, as we have throughout this pandemic, to ensure that critical health and medical supply chains remain open and resilient.