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Results: 481 - 495 of 544
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I am very seized with the issue, and very much share these concerns about Chinese steel dumping.
I have been consulting actively, including most recently in Arequipa, Peru, where I was at the APEC trade ministers meeting. We are working hard, particularly with our EU and U.S. counterparts on this issue.
It is an urgent matter for Canadians, and we are working toward a solution.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I am very seized of this issue, and I am personally extremely aware of the softwood lumber issue for Saskatchewan and indeed across Canada.
This week, I met for one hour with U.S.TR Mike Froman in Arequipa, Peru. I also met with Christy Clark, the premier of B.C., this morning. As we are speaking, our ambassador to the U.S. is meeting again with Ambassador Froman to discuss the issue.
I am pleased to report to the House that a U.S. negotiating team for softwood lumber is coming to Ottawa next week to continue our negotiations.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that the previous softwood lumber agreement expired under his government's watch. That is okay with us; we are used to cleaning up the economic messes the Conservatives left for us.
We are working very hard on the softwood lumber agreement. As I have explained, I personally spoke with Mike Froman this week, and negotiators are coming here next week.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question.
Canadians expect Canadian businesses with operations abroad to respect human rights and workers' rights.
I am very proud of the work of our mining companies abroad. I met last week with our corporate social responsibility counsellor. We are looking into ways to strengthen protections concerning the work of our mining companies abroad. It is an issue we are concerned with, and we are working with industry and with NGOs on it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in this House today.
Canada is a trading nation. International trade and investment are very important to Canada and Canadians. International trade and investment are essential to our standard of living and to improving the standard of living of people all over the world.
Trade helps us open markets to Canadian goods and services, promote the growth of exporters, create jobs, and give Canadian consumers more choice and lower prices.
Trade accounts for more than 60% of Canada's GDP. One out of five jobs in Canada is tied to Canadian exports. Exporting companies pay 14% higher wages than companies that do not export.
Free trade agreements do not just connect Canada to the rest of the world. They also guide our economic growth. Just look at the North American Free Trade Agreement, which gave rise to 3.4% growth in Canada, or the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement, which is expected to increase Canada's GDP by 0.77%.
At a time of stagnant economic growth around the world, this boost from trade is especially valuable.
Trade is important across all regions of our country. In the Atlantic provinces, trade represents almost 74% of the region's GDP. In Ontario, total trade as a share of GDP is 71%. In B.C., almost 40% of exports are destined for the high-growth Asia-Pacific markets.
Canadians are traders, and our government energetically supports trade. Our party was elected on a pro-trade platform, and we will continue to support and work for high-quality trade agreements and opportunities. When the U.S. adopted discriminatory labelling practices that disrupted supply chains for our beef and pork producers, it was the enforcement of international trade rules at the WTO that gave our government, working closely with Mexico, the opportunity to fight back against U.S. protectionism. And, we won. That was a victory for multilateralism. It was a victory for Canada. It was a victory for beef and pork producers. I was proud to engage in that fight and to win it just eight weeks after we formed government.
Protectionist actions by our trading partners harm the Canadian economy. Maintaining an open, predictable, and fair international trading system is essential. Canadians understand this. However, it is also undeniable, as today's motion itself argues, that we are living in a time when protectionist sentiment is rising around the world. Since taking office, I have spoken to hundreds of Canadians about trade, including 84 interactions with 209 stakeholders on the TPP specifically.
Canadians want to be involved in the conversation. Important questions about how we negotiate trade agreements have been raised many times. Canadians are particularly concerned about the lack of transparency and consultation.
People feel that the previous government did not consult Canadians enough. That is why our government is so committed to building strong political consensus about progressive international trade.
That democratic, consultative approach is the only way to maintain public support for trade in this protectionist era, and it is the right thing to do.
Considering CETA, our work on this landmark agreement should leave no doubt about our commitment to free, fair, and progressive trade, and of our ability to get deals done. Early in our mandate, we recognized the importance of our relationship to Europe. We also recognized the clear need for progressive improvements if this deal were to be implemented. We responded to Canadians, to EU citizens, and to our businesses. We responded to concerns about fairness and transparency. As a result, this progressive trade agreement now enjoys wide support on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the investment chapter, we strengthened the right to regulate. This is something I am very proud and pleased to do. The sovereign right of democratically elected governments to regulate, in particular on issues like the environment, is something Canadians believe in, and so do Europeans. The secondary issue where we made important modifications was to the dispute resolution process. We made the system more ethical, more fair, and more transparent. I am proud of that too.
Last month, I travelled to Brussels and to Berlin to promote CETA, and I was very encouraged by what I heard. I was delighted to meet with the German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of the country's Social Democrats. He previously had concerns about CETA, but said at a press conference, alongside me, that “it is clearly a good agreement”. He called the new CETA a sign of good governance, consumer protection, environmental protection, and employee rights.
In June 2015, Matthias Fekl, France's minister of state for foreign trade, said that if France's proposals on the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism “are not taken into account, there will be no majority in France to ratify this treaty”. Thanks to our government's work, Mr. Fekl said that the comprehensive economic and trade agreement, CETA, is actually “a good agreement”.
Our work on CETA should leave no doubt as to our commitment to trade. It is concrete proof that our progressive approach can get deals done where the Conservatives failed to get the puck in the net, notwithstanding the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars they spent celebrating an unfinished, troubled deal.
Now turning to the TPP, many of us were at the unveiling yesterday of the portrait of the Right Hon. Paul Martin, a man I am proud to call my friend. The comments he made yesterday bear directly on this issue. Let me quote them.
Parliament is important. [...] And I believe if Canadians are to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead in this ever-changing world, they will have to be presented with the choices before them. [...] And that means that Parliament must reclaim centre stage as the place where those choices are made.
Mr. Martin went on to say he applauded us, this Parliament for wanting to restore Canada's Parliament “to its proper function as the locus of the nation's great debate”. He continued on to say that he believes that parliamentary committees are one of the most valuable instruments that can be there, both for the government and for the opposition. I could not agree more, and I quote him for the parliamentary record for one particular reason.
I am very pleased that members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade are touring the country as we speak to consult Canadians in their own communities about the trans-Pacific partnership.
Today, committee members are in Windsor listening to Canadians. This week, they were in Montreal and Quebec City. Tomorrow, they will be in my city, Toronto. Last month, they talked to residents of Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg.
The committee is also urging Canadians to submit their views in writing, and I hope people will do so.
I applaud the leadership of this committee and its members from all parties. In the words of our 21st Prime Minister, this committee is embracing “the inherent strength of a Parliament that sends its committees out to meet the people.”
Our government has held consultations with over 400 stakeholders from across the country on the TPP. Over the next few weeks, I will personally be hosting two more town halls, one in Toronto and one in Montreal.
Canadians' views about this deal are particularly important because of the secretive and closed approach of the previous government. The Conservatives did not consult the essential groups, including, shockingly, trade unions. Even the car parts sector, which in 2015 shipped over $25-billion worth of goods, was shut out.
Do not trust me on this. Listen to Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, who recently said to the press:
No one in a position of authority invested in industry consultation before being dealt a terrible hand by major trading partners that did not have Canadian interests at heart when they negotiated the terms in our absence.
That was wrong. Our Prime Minister made a clear commitment in the campaign to ensure Canadians' voices would be heard. In fact, one of the first consultations I held on the TPP as minister was on November 30 with the auto parts manufacturers.
While we cannot make up for Canadians having been left in the dark by the Conservatives, we can provide opportunities for their views to be heard and considered now. We have the time to hold these essential discussions. Under the terms of the TPP agreement, all 12 signatories have until February 2018 to debate and discuss the agreement at home. That is what our partners are doing.
It is important for this House to understand that none of the 11 other TPP countries have yet ratified the agreement. Japan and Australia, in fact, will hold elections before moving ahead with their domestic processes. The U.S. is likely to do so as well.
The Conservatives know this, and the Conservatives should explain why they are today urging that Canadians alone do not deserve to have their voices heard.
Let me finish where I started. We are a trading nation. Trade is essential to our prosperity, to our standard of living, to growth, and to good-paying middle-class jobs. An open, transparent, fully democratic debate to inform an inclusive approach to trade is the only way to ensure that we are a successful trading nation in the 21st century and that we can beat back the waves of protectionism that are consuming so many other countries.
That is why it is essential to give Canadians an opportunity to debate and discuss the TPP, and that is exactly what we are doing.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to start by thanking the member for Abbotsford for his really hard work on Canada's trade agenda. As trade critic, I enjoyed working with him when he was minister.
To the point that the member makes, the reality of Canada's trade relationships with the world is that it takes a Liberal government to get the deal done. That was true with NAFTA and that will be true with CETA. The member knows very well that the agreement was not signed and the legal scrub was not completed on his watch. CETA was languishing from September 2015 until we came into office. With CETA, we were able to get the deal done.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her hard work on this issue.
When it comes to compensation, I spoke in my remarks about the need for a progressive trade agenda, an agenda that engages Canadians and builds their trust. Assuring Canadians that compensation for sectors of people displaced by trade agreements will be forthcoming and appropriate is an essential part of that progressive trade agenda. That is why with CETA, where we have pledged with the European Union to sign the deal in the fall and we hope it will come into force at the beginning of next year, we have begun consultations with, among others, the agricultural producers on compensation.
On TPP, as we are discussing today, our government's belief is that now is the time for discussion and debate about the agreement itself. However, we understand the need for compensation, absolutely.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, as I said in my remarks, and as he suggested, now is a worrying time for all of those who, like us, appreciate the importance of trade and of an open world economy for good-paying Canadian middle-class jobs.
The only way for us to fight that protectionist current is to advance a truly progressive trade agenda. There are two essential ways to do that. One is to have an open, democratic, and consultative process so that people do not fear, as they have sometimes done in the past, that deals are done behind their backs and in secret. The second is to advance truly progressive goals, like protection of the environment, like strong labour standards, like rights for women in small businesses in trade agreements.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
First of all, I am very proud to quote Mr. Martin because he was an excellent finance minister and an excellent prime minister. I am proud that he was a Liberal.
As for compensation, as I have already said, we are currently in talks with agricultural producers. We have said so publicly. It is a very important discussion. We will reach an agreement on compensation, because we are absolutely in favour of that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I have the utmost respect for the member for Abbotsford.
Since I only have a brief answer, I will say that you had from 2011 to plug that hole and you guys did not get the job done. It was the same with COOL, so—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we were very clear during the election that we support trade. We were also very clear that the TPP, which was negotiated in secret during the campaign, required broad national consultation. We promised that, and we are keeping our promise.
The trade committee, this week, is travelling the country to listen to Canadians. It is in Windsor today. It will be in Toronto tomorrow. It was in Montreal and Quebec City earlier this week.
I would also like to remind the hon. member that none of the 12 TPP countries has yet ratified this agreement and that we all have two years for an open, productive debate.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that, in fact, in the first quarter of 2016, our exports were $1.2 billion higher than they were during the same period last year.
We are reaching further. We are fighting protectionism as we did successfully with COOL, something again not achieved under his watch. We are opening up new markets with CETA, whose legal scrub has now been completed. That agreement will be signed this year, and not done under his—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by reminding the hon. member that it was his government that left Canadians without a softwood lumber agreement. The previous agreement expired on his government's watch.
We are very aware of the importance of this issue. We have focused on it from day one. We raised this issue during our state dinner at the White House. We raised it at the highest levels.
I am working closely with the U.S. TR and with the industry. We will get this done.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely seized of the issue of softwood lumber. I am working very hard on this issue with my officials, with our ambassador to the United States, and with the industry.
I would urge the hon. member to have a coffee with the member for Abbotsford, who will point out that there is no connection between the softwood lumber agreement and the TPP.
I also want to say that we are negotiating for a good deal, but not just any deal. We will get a good deal for Canadian producers.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government and I understand how important the forestry industry is to Quebec and Canada.
That is why I am in regular contact with my American counterpart, Michael Froman, on this issue. We are working hard to figure out how to resolve this issue. Our objective is still to maintain stable access to the U.S. market for our industry.
Results: 481 - 495 of 544 | Page: 33 of 37

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