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Results: 106 - 120 of 391
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
—about the independence of the Bank of Canada.
Yes, that is not responsible behaviour.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the Bank of Canada is ably and independently run, and perhaps members of this committee would like to invite representatives of the bank to come and speak to the committee and answer your questions.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I cannot emphasize too emphatically the importance that our government attaches and that I attach to the independence of the Bank of Canada and—
Hon. Pierre Poilievre: Mr. Chair—
Hon. Chrystia Freeland: —I will always speak out against efforts to undermine that or cast doubt on the independence of this critical Canadian institution. Canadians trust the bank, and they're right to do so.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I thought the chair had turned the floor over to me, and I would simply like to endorse our chairman's comments that the independence of the bank is important.
I would urge members who wish to ask questions of the Bank of Canada to invite the very able leadership and representatives of the bank to this committee.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, as all Canadians know, the Bank of Canada is a Canadian government institution. It is, however, an independent institution, and its independence was a very important innovation at the time. It is something that I as finance minister prize and respect, and I think that all MPs should do likewise.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I didn't “admit” that the Bank of Canada was accountable to the people of Canada; I proudly stated it. I really cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of a respected and independent central bank to the functioning of our economy.
As a journalist, I had the privilege of quite often interviewing finance minister Jim Flaherty. I can tell you from personal experience that he respected the independence of the Bank of Canada. I would hope that today's Conservative Party would do the same.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Okay.
Well, Mr. Chair, as I had to point out yet again that in question period, the member opposite and some of his colleagues seem to be making a habit of misconstruing my words.
In no way does the government seek to conceal or keep secret the activities of the Bank of Canada. The Bank of Canada is a highly transparent, highly responsible institution, and I have a question for the Conservative members. Do they respect the independence of the Bank of Canada as previous Conservative finance ministers like the late Jim Flaherty did? I hope they do. The Canadian economy depends on it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
The time's up. I'm sorry. It's called a rhetorical question.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
This is an issue very dear to my heart, and I really believe it's an issue whose time has come.
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the tabling of the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. That report, among other things, called on the federal government to urgently begin negotiations with the provinces and territories on building a universal national child care system. That was 50 years ago. It has remained something that Canadian women, Canadian mothers and, I would say, Canadian parents have been hoping for and pushing for over those 50 years.
I think there are two things that make now a moment when we really can have a breakthrough.
The first is the coronavirus and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The spring particularly, when so many schools and day cares were closed down, was when I think many business leaders became more aware than they had been of the necessity of child care to keep women in the workforce.
We're seeing now that women's labour force participation has really taken a hit because of this pandemic. One of the things I am so struck by right now is that it's not just the usual suspects—early learning child care advocates and feminists—who are talking about child care; it is also corporate leaders. People are talking about child care as what it is, which is a driver of economic growth.
Early learning and child care can help parents participate in the labour force, and it can also create a better labour force when those well-educated little children grow up. I think we need to see it, of course, as a feminist issue, but we also need to see it as a real growth driver. I think our country is starting to look at it that way.
The second really important thing, Julie, is that we now have the example of Quebec, so talking about early learning and child care is no longer a theoretical exercise. It's no longer like some of the debates that we have in the House of Commons or at committee where everyone has their pre-baked, entrenched, ideological positions. When it comes to early learning and child care, we can look at Quebec and say that it works.
Labour force participation in Quebec, particularly of mothers of children three and under, is off the charts. It's one of the highest in the world. This has been a major contributor to economic growth in Quebec. It's worked in Quebec. It's time for us to learn from la belle province and to find ways to make it work across the rest of the country.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Of course. We put in some measures on climate change in the fall economic statement as a down payment on the growth plan we were discussing earlier today. They include grants for home retrofits, grants of up to $5,000 to help people make their homes more energy-efficient. That's sort of a double win, because it will put people to work retrofitting your home and at the same time help our whole country to become more energy-efficient. Maybe it's even a triple win, because it will lower your electricity bills.
We also announced investment in the infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles across the country. Again, it's a double win there, because we'll create jobs in building that infrastructure and will make it easier for people to shift to zero-emission vehicles.
There are significant investments in nature-based solutions to climate change. Again, building those nature-based solutions is also a job creation program.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Wayne, can I just offer one final final thought?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
It's something I meant to say, which is that we have some of Canada's hard-working public servants from the Department of Finance here with us. They have been working just like Stakhanovites to prepare the fall economic statement, and they were working really hard before that to support Canadian businesses, Canadian families and the Canadian economy through this crisis. I think this is a good opportunity. Maybe all of us will agree on one thing and only one thing—all members of this committee—that Canada is very lucky to have such fine, smart, hard-working and dedicated public servants.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you, members of this committee. I'll make a few introductory remarks and then I will be happy to answer your questions.
I'd like to acknowledge that we're gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin.
Let me start with very great pleasure by introducing the outstanding Canadian public servants who are here with me today and without whose hard work, dedication and intelligence this pivotal new agreement would not have been possible. I'm going to introduce the two people sitting next to me. Let me just say that they lead an outstanding team of Canadian professional trade negotiators. At a particularly rough moment during the negotiations, one of our negotiators said, “We think of ourselves as the Navy SEALs of Canada”. I think that is a very appropriate way for all of us to think of our outstanding professional trade negotiators.
With me is Steve Verheul, chief negotiator of NAFTA and assistant deputy minister of trade, and Kirsten Hillman, our acting ambassador to the U.S., as well as a trade negotiator of some renown.
I'm very pleased to speak today in support of Bill C-4, the act to implement the new NAFTA, the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement.
Canada is a trading nation. Indeed, with the world's 10th largest economy, trade is the backbone of our economy. Trade is vital for the continued prosperity of Canadian workers, entrepreneurs, businesses and communities across the country.
Our government champions an open, inclusive society and an open global economy. These fundamental Canadian values transcend party and region. In fact, each of Canada's three major, recently concluded, trading agreements—the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and now the new NAFTA—were the outcome of efforts across party lines.
Canadians support free, fair, and balanced international trade, based on mutually agreed rules. These rules provide predictability and stability in how goods, services and investment are carried out between Canada and our major trading partners. We have seen remarkable success in this area.
In 1994 NAFTA created the largest free trade region in the world. In 2018 trilateral merchandise trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico reached nearly $1.2 trillion U.S., a fourfold increase since 1993.
Today the NAFTA region comprises almost 490 million consumers and has a combined GDP of more than $23.5 trillion U.S. Our three countries together account for more than one-quarter of the world's GDP, with less than 7% of its population. This record of growth is a tribute to all Canadians, to our entrepreneurs and our workers across this country. Trade between the NAFTA partners has helped us build a continental network of supply chains across a range of industrial and agricultural sectors. It has made Canada more competitive globally. It has created good jobs for Canadians and has fostered job-creating direct investment between Canada and the United States.
The new NAFTA helps ensure we maintain this vital relationship, and that we maintain predictability and stability in our commercial relationship with the United States—our closest, and overwhelmingly our largest, trading partner—and with Mexico.
The negotiations to modernize NAFTA were unprecedented in their intensity, scope and urgency. At the outset we faced a barrage of protectionist trade actions from the United States and the very real threat of a U.S. unilateral withdrawal from NAFTA altogether. Team Canada stood firm and team Canada stood united. Guided by strong support for free trade from Canadians across the country, at all orders of government across the political spectrum, from business to labour leaders to indigenous leaders, we sought advice and consensus and we acted in a united way.
I would today like to particularly thank the NAFTA council for its hard work. Together we worked tirelessly to modernize NAFTA for the 21st century and to extract further benefits for Canadians from a trading partnership that has been a model for the world, and that is exactly what we accomplished.
The new NAFTA preserves Canada's tariff-free access to the United States and Mexico. It restores and strengthens the predictability and stability of Canada's access to our largest market, and crucially, it does so in the face of rising protectionist sentiment south of our border and around the world. The new NAFTA improves on and modernizes the original agreement.
Allow me to highlight some of the key tangible benefits for Canadians.
First, this agreement protects $2 billion U.S. worth of daily cross-border goods and services trade between Canada and the United States. This means that 99.9% of Canadian exports to the United States are eligible for tariff free trade.
The new NAFTA preserves crucial cross-border auto supply chains, and provides an incentive to produce vehicles in Canada.
The agreement also commits all partners to comply with stringent labour standards, and strengthens labour obligations to help level the playing field for Canadian workers. Mexico has also undertaken specific commitments to provide for the protection and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
I would add that our government is working in collaboration with the Mexican government to help Mexico implement its labour reforms.
Throughout the negotiations, Canada was confronted with the American tariffs that were unprecedented, unjust, and arbitrary with respect to Canadian steel and aluminum. We were able to avoid an escalation, however, without backtracking. We stayed focused on defending Canadian workers, their families, and their communities.
We succeeded, and those U.S. tariffs have been lifted.
There was an additional U.S. threat to impose a section 232 tariff on Canadian autos and auto parts. For Canada, that threat was lifted on November 30, 2018, the day we signed the new NAFTA and the day we signed a binding letter on 232 autos and auto parts with the United States. As a result, Canada's auto industry now has the stability to seek investment for further growth and innovation.
The new NAFTA also preserves elements of the original NAFTA that have been essential for Canada and were under threat.
It maintains chapter 29 regarding the dispute settlement mechanism for trade. This is a fair and impartial mechanism, which had been included in the original agreement thanks to the hard work accomplished by Canada. This mechanism has been beneficial for our forest sector workers well over the years, and has protected their jobs from unjust trade measures.
The new agreement preserves NAFTA’s cultural exception, which contributes to protecting more than 666,000 jobs in Canada’s cultural industries and is so pivotal to supporting the artists who tell our stories, in both official languages.
Critically, the new NAFTA maintains tariff-free access to the U.S. market for Canadian ranchers and grain farmers. We should never lose sight of the fact that the starting objective of the United States in the NAFTA negotiations was to abolish Canada's system of supply management.
We did not accept that. Instead, we stood up for Canadian farmers and preserved supply management for this generation and for those to come.
The agreement includes an enforceable environment chapter that requires NAFTA partners to maintain high levels of environmental protection, as well as ensuring sound environmental stewardship. In addition, it recognizes and supports the unique role of indigenous peoples in safeguarding and preserving our environment.
The new NAFTA contains ambitious and enforceable labour obligations to protect workers from discrimination in the workplace, including on the basis of gender.
In conclusion, the new NAFTA is good for continued economic growth and prosperity in Canada. It restores stability and predictability for exporters and for the hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers in our export-oriented industries. It allows us to put the uncertainty of recent years in the past.
Most importantly, the new NAFTA is pivotal in securing the future of good-quality Canadian jobs across our country as market access to the United States and Mexico will be assured—will be guaranteed—by the new NAFTA for years to come.
I want to be clear. We have come a long way. However, until this agreement is ratified by all three countries and enters into force, there continues to be risk and uncertainty, which will inevitably grow with the passage of time. This agreement has already been ratified by the United States and Mexico—our two other NAFTA partners.
Debate in Parliament, including at committees, is very important in our democracy, but the risk to Canada is also real. It is imperative we lock in the gains we have made with this agreement, the security we have achieved and the market access we have fought for by ratifying the new NAFTA without undue delay. That is what Canadians expect all of us to do and it's the right thing to do.
Thank you very much.
I'll be happy to take your questions.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
First of all, let me thank the member from Prince Albert for his question and for the many conversations that we have had together about the new NAFTA. We go back to the time when I was sitting on the other side of the House, and I had the opportunity to ask the then Conservative government questions about trade. I really respect you, Mr. Hoback, with your long experience of trade issues and trade agreements and the many years now that we have spent talking about them and working on them.
You've raised a number of issues. Let me take them in turn.
Results: 106 - 120 of 391 | Page: 8 of 27

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