SINT Committee Meeting

37th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

Sub-Committee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade

EVIDENCE

CONTENTS

Wednesday, May 22, 2002

The Chair (Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Lib.))

Mr. Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar (Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh)

The Chair

Mr. Duncan

The Chair

Mr. John Duncan

The Chair

Ms. Lalonde

The Chair

Mr. Bill Casey (Cumberland—Colchester, PC)

The Chair

Mr. Tony Valeri (Stoney Creek, Lib.)

The Chair

Mr. Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar

The Chair

CANADA

EVIDENCE

Wednesday, May 22, 2002

[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

¹  (1540)  

[English]

    The Chair (Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Lib.)): Good afternoon, colleagues.

    Allow me to welcome the distinguished delegation from Bangladesh to our subcommittee. Your Excellency, let me introduce to you my colleagues. Madame Lalonde is a member of the Bloc Québécois in the Parliament of Canada. Mr. Rick Casson is a member of the official opposition, the Canadian Alliance, as is Mr. Duncan. Mr. O'Brien is the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Trade. Mr. Tony Valeri is the chair of our caucus committee on economic affairs and a member of this committee. You've had a chance to meet with our colleagues here.

    This visit is very important for us, specifically because, with the help of colleagues from all parties, this committee passed a unanimous report dealing with WTO issues. One of its recommendations directly affects Bangladesh, as well as all least developed countries. I will read it to you. It is recommendation 7 of this report, and we will make sure you get copies.

    I think this, along with many other recommendations dealing with capacity building, is excellent news for Bangladesh and for Canada-Bangladesh relations. I want, without hesitation, to commend your high commissioner here, who has made a number of recommendations to me and my colleagues on this committee to encourage us to put this recommendation in place. Thank you for making us more aware of the issues affecting Canada-Bangladesh relations. It's my hope that this will serve to improve on those excellent relations.

    So I welcome you, and I ask that you make some comments to our committee.

    Mr. Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar (Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the members of my delegation, I thank you for having chaired the committe and made a lot of recommendations.

    When we arrived here, we were received very cordially, and we are extremely grateful for the hospitality and the generosity that has been shown to us in this stay over here.

    The importance of this subcommittee is very well known and we highly welcome the very commendable work of great importance that has been done by it. Under your leadership recommendations have been made, and we are very happy with the beginning. You visited Bangladesh and have been able to learn about the difficulties Bangladesh has in the sphere of business and trade. During your stay in Bangladesh our anxieties were expressed. Here today we make it very clear that we are grateful that Canada is going to provide market access not only to the least-developed countries or the developing countries, but to Bangladesh as well.

    The case of Bangladesh is of great importance and of great value. This is a country that is over-populated. With an area of 56,000 square miles, we have got 130 million people. The population per square mile at the moment in Bangladesh is about 2,500, whereas in the U.S.A., Canada, or Australia it would be around 1,400. So you and the honourable members can understand the position of Bangladesh.

    With this over-populated area, we have been able to develop some industries. We have been able to develop industries like the tea industry and, in particular, the garment industry, where there are 2.5 million women working. Everywhere we go today, they're not neglected. This garment industry has great possibilities in your great country, and other countries as well, as we shall see in the course of time. Our unemployment problems, will be relaxed.

    I have a copy of the report prepared by the subcommittee. I thank you for taking the initiative in this. The position that has been explained has been to do with recommendation 7. When I got the report, just a few minutes before this meeting, I saw also recommendation 4. To deal with the problems of population and unemployment, these recommendations will be very helpful. It is very helpful to us when we see this:

¹  (1545)  

     Given the labour problem we have and the population we have, we do hope these recommendations will be noticed by the federal government, taking into account all possible necessities for alleviating poverty at base. It is a world treaty of cooperation, fellow feeling, harmony, because a least developed country or a developing country like ours cannot be isolated, and we shall have to live, and live decently, with the rest of the population of the developed countries, great countries such as Canada.

     We are very much grateful that apart from this, Canada has been helping us. Canada has been assisting us by giving grants, and there are 12 or 13 individuals working in the villages with the women so they get their food. That is how one of the problems has been solved there. To help the women in the country, handicraft industries have been established, poultry farms have been established, and part-time jobs have been given, so that the regional unemployed in Bangladesh there, to a certain extent, are employed and survive.

     I do hope that since the recommendations are there, it is now a mere formality for the federal government to implement them, especially recommendations 7 and 4, which would help us very much. This is my sincere submission to this august body, which has done a tremendous job for the least developed countries and the developing countries, through which we believe poverty, in the course of time, will eliminated.

    Let us take the case of the 2.5 million female workers in Bangladesh. You are aware that we have a homogeneous state. In each and every family there are four to five dependent people, and with these 2.5 million female workers go another 8.5 million people. When a family is employed, poor relatives, neighbours, and others will look to the family indirectly to get help. Thus I fully appreciate what you have done for market access. I gratefully acknowledge the generosity shown by this subcommittee to countries like ours.

¹  (1555)  

    The Chair: Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for your great comments. Let me say to you, this report was the work of all the parties of Parliament. It was a team effort. It was not by any means a single effort. If it were not for the support of all my colleagues, this would not have come about at all. We are going to make some copies available to you. It is very self-explanatory. Each one of the recommendations there is supported by information in the body of the report. I want you, at your leisure tonight, after you finish your dinner at the ambassador's house and go back to your hotel, to glance through it and enjoy reading some of it.

    I want to open the floor to colleagues who may have some remarks to make, starting with Mr. Duncan.

    Mr. John Duncan (Vancouver Island North, Canadian Alliance): I have just a quick comment. I think the common thread through our report is free trade, and as much as you made reference to generosity, free trade, we believe, is enlightened self-interest also. That does not mean this was not done in the correct spirit. It was done in a spirit of international cooperation, and I think your comments about making the world a better place are absolutely appropriate. Certainly, that was a motivating factor for all the parties represented in this committee. It is very nice to put a human dimension on the report by having your visit and hearing your comments directly about how one part of government actions... We're assuming this government action will occur. Is that correct?

    The Chair: We are praying. With due time, I'm pretty sure.

    Mr. John Duncan: We think this will happen. Anyway, your comments are most appreciated.

    The Chair: Madame Lalonde.

    Ms. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Merci.

    Thank you very much for all you have said and for travelling to Ottawa. I want to add to what Mr. Duncan said. Being the critic for foreign affairs, I understand it is important to open the borders to trade coming from your country. But as well, in my party we believe the provision of international money to help build infrastructures is always very important. It cannot be put aside if we would narrow the gap between the wealthy countries and the others. I just want to say, for our part, we will continue to push for Canada to enhance its international aid, because it has decreased in the range of the countries helping others.

    Thank you.

    The Chair: Mr. Casey from the Progressive Conservative Party also took part in supporting this report. Do you have a comment?

    Mr. Bill Casey (Cumberland—Colchester, PC): No, I think that's fine. Thanks.

    The Chair: Mr. Valeri.

    Mr. Tony Valeri (Stoney Creek, Lib.): I would, in concert with my colleagues, thank you for taking the time during your trip to come and visit with us and convey those remarks. We will certainly endeavour to do everything we can to see the recommendation turn into implementation of policy, which is a critical component of it. Certainly, you are a very good friend to Canada. Canada will continue to do what it can to assist your country in developing and moving forward.

    Thank you.

º  (1600)  

    The Chair: Your Excellency, I know they have loaded your afternoon. I know first-hand how stressful visits can be with scheduling and logistics. I wanted, on behalf of my colleagues, all of them, to thank you greatly for sharing your time with us and, as my colleagues have stated very eloquently, for putting a human face on this issue and giving us the chance to hear first-hand from you. We wish you a very pleasant stay here in Canada. We hope your meetings will be successful and fruitful. We hope the excellent relations that exist between Canada and Bangladesh continue for years to come. We call on the leadership to continue to do the excellent work they are doing in providing more jobs for the people of Bangladesh.

    My colleagues are very aware of the fact that of the 2.5 million people who work in the garment industry the vast majority are women. That was a very important and motivating factor when we were formulating our recommendation, to help ensure that jobs continue to be provided for those who are in industries, and also to help support, in whatever way we can, countries such as yours to prosper. We believe the future of Bangladesh is very bright. Also, we believe, notwithstanding all the things you have spoken on, you still have self-sufficiency. You still manage exceptionally well in providing some of the finest programs in the world to help support the people of Bangladesh.

    I want to thank you again for being here. I'm pretty confident we will meet again.

    Mr. Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar: Thank you for those words and for the cooperation. I thank all the honourable members for having extended cooperation to us, a poor country. With further cooperation, we will be able to make things better. It is willingly that we have been very good friends of Canada whenever any sort of question comes up in the Parliament or outside. Our leadership all lean towards the views of Canada. When I represented Bangladesh in the legal committee of the United Nations in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980, dealing with international law, I had close cooperation with your delegates and your ambassador. All our people, wherever they are, have been in close cooperation with your representatives.

    So I thank you on behalf of the members of my delegation, and express again our gratitude. We are satisfied with the assurances, and we do hope this recommendation is a mere formality for the government to implement. Once it has been implemented, we will certainly profit much. Thank you very much.

    The Chair: Thank you.

    We're going to suspend for two minutes, then we'll go in camera to deal with the next item.

    [Editor's Note: Proceedings continue in camera]