International Trade committee  Absolutely.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the invitation to be here before you on this important topic of the Canada-Korea free trade agreement. The Canadian beef industry is highly export dependent. Nearly 90,000 Canadian cattle producers collectively produce approximately 1.6 million tonnes of beef and

Agriculture committee  I think we can learn from history. I think you know the B.C. wine industry very well. I grew up in the Niagara region, and I recall that in the late 1980s the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was going to be the death of the wine industry in Canada. When you have these market f

Agriculture committee  One thing that has been done is obviously to have an open dialogue with all the sectors that are involved, that before the ministers go to the negotiations we have discussions like this, forums where everybody is represented and we talk about defining what a win-win situation is.

Agriculture committee  I believe that the meeting at the end of June will be the first ministerial meeting of the WTO. There have been some little side meetings of groups here and there, but this will be the first time that the WTO director general has called ministers and asked them to come.

Agriculture committee  I guess that's the question I often struggle with. Why can't we find some common ground? Why are we entrenched in our positions domestically at one extreme or the other? I think having this dialogue this morning to try to find that common ground perhaps could be useful in getting

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I guess I think of this as not so much what's happened up to this point, but what could happen. What could happen in the next couple of weeks, and where are the opportunities? And what does Canada have to do to maximize the opportunities to get access for Canadian agr

Agriculture committee  I have just one housekeeping matter. Our statement is currently in translation and should be circulated to all the members some time today.