International Trade committee  While I can't comment on the specifics, I can say that we have to constantly re-examine our competitive tax advantages within Canada involving the various levels of government, whether we're talking federal, provincial or municipal.

International Trade committee  Yes, sir. You'll see this not just at the national level. You'll also see states practising what we call buy America. Again, this underlines why we should, effectively, go down and remind Americans why they would want to put “North” in front of “America” when they say “buy Ameri

International Trade committee  In Canada, we strive to make Canada a place where we have a competitive advantage. We have the skilled workforce. There are many factors that go into deciding what you're going to do, and incentives are a piece of that but not all of it. While that is an important piece, what is

International Trade committee  Protectionism is shared by both parties. It used to be primarily in the Democratic Party, but with Mr. Trump, it has now extended into the Republican Party, so there are protectionists on both sides of the aisle. For that reason, we have to make the case in the United States—ag

International Trade committee  The big legislative package that came before the IRA was of course the CHIPS and Science Act, which also has a lot of incentives, particularly targeted to encourage the development of the semiconductor industry in the United States with other tangential technological investments.

International Trade committee  Well, it's going to be more difficult now with the House in Republican hands, because I think you're going to see the Republicans launch a series of investigations into Hunter Biden and the retreat from Afghanistan. I don't think they have any interest in giving President Biden a

International Trade committee  Well, our interest is always basically to prevent actions that could do harm to Canada. A lack of legislative action probably means that we end up with the status quo, but it does not reduce my argument that we should be making the case every day—including by having members of Pa

International Trade committee  I'm not familiar with how the list is devised, but two or three years seems rather extreme. Again, pressure from parliamentarians usually has an effect on bureaucrats, who may have a means of doing things. In my experience, they respond appropriately. So too do elected represen

International Trade committee  Yes, we should deal with the United States as a partner. We have preferred access to the United States. As you have noted, we have a whole series of entrees into the United States, the best entrees of any country in the world. In fact, we are in an envious position, although we d

International Trade committee  I think we decide what we want. Our advantage, of course, is in our strategic minerals, but for now, our strategic minerals are being sent for processing to China. I think we have to start refining and using clean-tech methods within Canada, but that's going to take some time. It

International Trade committee  Yes. In my experience, it starts in the Prime Minister's Office. Under Mr. Harper and Mr. Trudeau, having a dedicated team in the Prime Minister's Office, which works with the Privy Council Office and bureaucracy, has worked extremely well.

International Trade committee  Pardon me, Chair. I'll just say that an industrial strategy is where I think we should be headed.

International Trade committee  Yes, sir, I think we do. The United States has moved to an industrial strategy, the Europeans are moving in that direction and I think Australia is too. I think we should do it, but I would try to do it in tandem with our largest trading partners. That would start on a continenta

International Trade committee  Yes, sorry. We've always sought to attract foreign investment in Canada because we don't have a big enough market for the investment we need to develop our economy, and it has worked extremely well for our economy, beginning with railways, pipelines and grids. We are also now bi

International Trade committee  I was part of the team, when we negotiated the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, that was trying to arrive at a subsidies code whereby Canada and the United States would agree on how to provide incentives. We were not successful. We punted it to what is now the World Trade Organi