International Trade committee  I think very early on in the discussions we did have those kinds of questions raised both by the U.K. and the EU. The EU was very clear that, with the U.K. leaving the European Union, they would no longer be entitled to any of the TRQs as a new member, and they would have to nego

International Trade committee  They have access to the TRQ now because they are in the transition part of it, but once they are out, they will have no access to the TRQs.

International Trade committee  No, not that I'm aware of.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely. Throughout the negotiating process all stakeholders, but agriculture stakeholders in particular, were able to provide their concerns and raise any issues with me as the chief negotiator. As I mentioned, my door and my phone line are always wide open for stakehold

International Trade committee  Just to clarify that question, Madam Chair, are you referring to any stakeholder events that have included ministers?

International Trade committee  Fair enough. Thank you for the clarification. I think I understand the question better. That was certainly a different time and a different scope, and I think for the consultations we've had.... As I said, both Mr. Fowler and I have had ongoing discussions with agriculture stake

International Trade committee  I have seen the media reports, but the leaks did not come from the Canadian side, certainly, that I'm aware of. I'm not sure where they came from, but as I mentioned in one of my previous answers, I'm quite confident that we can reach conclusion very shortly.

International Trade committee  Actually, I think I might turn to our chief negotiator for those negotiations, Steve Verheul. He'd be better placed to answer that. It was a while ago, but he would have the best memory of that.

International Trade committee  Yes. I think it was a.... We had been actively engaged at the table with the United Kingdom at that point and were getting close. It did come as quite a surprise. We had a thorough internal discussion on it. As I said, it did come as a surprise. The decision we took, after analys

International Trade committee  I think it's fair to say that, yes, I am quite optimistic. We have been negotiating actively since August, and very intensively in the last few weeks, down to the final issues to be determined, and I'm quite confident that we will reach a final conclusion very shortly.

International Trade committee  I think I'll start and then I'm happy to turn to my colleague, the high commissioner in London, who might have some further information on that. The prime ministers have met a number of times. I think most recently, last week, they had a telephone discussion. I'm not sure if you

International Trade committee  That was in March 2019.

International Trade committee  There are other parts to the Gazette notice as well. There are calls for stakeholders to provide us with their input, if I'm not mistaken.

International Trade committee  We have had active discussions. I speak regularly with interested stakeholders and provincial and territorial representatives, as do my colleagues at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. We have an active round table, if you will, of opportunities for people to engage with us. As I

International Trade committee  Madam Chair, there are aspects of the agreement that do have...I wouldn't call them “sunset clauses”, but they will more or less compel the United Kingdom to have a strong interest in wanting to move forward and then finalize a new bilateral agreement with Canada. I'm not too con