Foreign Affairs committee  I think the real issue and the pace of the negotiation will obviously be driven by the Americans. There will be a presidential election in Mexico. That may certainly stall things on the Mexican side. The Americans, as the big trading partner—the elephant in the room—will drive th

Foreign Affairs committee  I think everybody wants to know where Congress stands on certain issues. It's not unified, as we all know. Even the Republican Party is not unified. I think it's fair to say that there are many free traders. Historically the Republican Party has been the defender of free trade,

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for your question. This is a trilateral negotiation that is going to take place, but I think we should be under no illusions that it's going to have its own bilateral elements to it. The Americans, as quite frankly they did with NAFTA, will try to play us off

Foreign Affairs committee  I thought it was dinner.

Foreign Affairs committee  During the election campaign, I was scouring through then presidential candidate Trump's speeches. It may have gone unnoticed in Canada, but he gave a speech within, I think, 13 or 15 kilometres of the Canadian border when he was in the state of Washington. He didn't mention Cana

Foreign Affairs committee  I think a core proposition is that you don't give up anything unless you get something in return. If we are going to come under pressure to make concessions on dairy, which the President singled out when he was visiting Wisconsin, for reasons that still remain perhaps inexplicabl

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, there's competition, but they are playing the same game. I think that can be a basis for negotiation. The problem with softwood lumber is that it's not part of NAFTA, as we know. That's an issue that has to be dealt with on its own, I think, and we have to get our own act

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before your committee. I'm going to focus on NAFTA and the future of NAFTA. I'm not going to address all the many questions you prepared, which were answered so ably by my good friend Charles Doran. The first poin

Foreign Affairs committee  We'll go in alphabetical order, Mr. Chair.