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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade always raises important questions. She has been on this, as has the deputy minister. It was clearly part of the negotiations of CUSMA that we were able to make sure that we were fighting for it.
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Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's concern regarding potatoes in P.E.I. We know it is a very important industry. That is why I have been in contact with the premier on this very question. Also, the Prime Minister raised it with President Biden when we were in the Oval Office two weeks ago.
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Mr. Speaker, I refuse to accept the premise of the question. Of course we have an independent foreign policy and are very proud of it.
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Mr. Speaker, we will not take any lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to trade with the U.S. The member should talk to the Leader of the Opposition, his boss, regarding the fact that during the CUSMA negotiations, he himself wanted to capitulate. We were there and we fought strongly for our own national interests and our industries and we were able to make a good deal for Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has been on this. It is important that we work with farmers in P.E.I., and that is what she has been doing. We are working right now on many solutions, but we will always fight for our farmers in P.E.I. We know that the potato industry is important and we have the industry's back.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a very important industry, and we will always be there to make sure that we work with the workers and the entrepreneurs in the sector.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that we will always be there to defend our entrepreneurs and our workers. We know that when it comes to the U.S., many jobs on the U.S. side and on the Canadian side of the border are dependent on this relationship. That is why we want to make sure that we have a good relationship, but at the same time that we defend our interests.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can trust the government when it comes to negotiating with the United States. Also, he can trust that we have a good deal in CUSMA. That is exactly why we know that our farmers can count on having important access to the American and Mexican markets.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not here to comment on hypotheses. I am here to ensure that I answer clear questions from my colleagues. I want to reassure the member that when it comes to a relationship with the United States, we want to work with the opposition, all the opposition, because it is important that we have a team Canada approach.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation is in Detroit right now to talk about just that. We believe that we need to invest in critical elements and we need to make it part of our industrial policy.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to raise any form of trade irritants with the United States and with any other countries with which we have free trade agreements. That is also exactly why we have a mechanism that is very important in CUSMA, which is about settlement dispute mechanisms, which the Conservatives were against.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to my colleague, should there be a trade irritant that violates CUSMA, we will take necessary action.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can count on the fact that we have a strong team Canada approach within cabinet, but also the Prime Minister is very much on this issue.
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Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is false. Many people in United States Congress and within the executive branch, particularly the White House and the different state and trade departments, are very much aware of the issue of electric vehicles.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to fight for the national interest and work with our workers in the oil and gas sector. I hope my colleague was able to convey the importance of our auto sector while he was in Washington, because that was the goal of our mission there.
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Mr. Speaker, the U.S. knows very well that Canada is the first supplier of oil and gas and, of course, Keystone XL is a very important tool to ensure it has access to our market. We will continue to raise this issue with the administration in the U.S.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague has not raised it yet, but the question of Line 5 is also very important. That is why we have started negotiations with the United States under the 1977 treaty.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague did not talk about Line 5, but I did.
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Mr. Speaker, as the former tourism minister, I know that this is a very important industry to Canada. I also know that we have been there to support the industry, particularly with help for its workers and also for many businesses, the small ones and the big ones, which have had access to COVID measures throughout the pandemic.
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Mr. Speaker, our employment numbers are even better than those of the U.S. My colleague should look at the figures. At this point, we have been able to get 106% of all the jobs back since the beginning of the pandemic. That is because we have a great environment for investment in our country and we are also able to attract many companies to invest.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the numbers show themselves. The employment sector right now is stronger in Canada than in the U.S. and many other countries. I also know that many companies are willing to invest in Canada and have been doing so. Six months ago, I was with the Prime Minister talking with the aerospace sector, and billions of dollars are being invested across the country in this sector.
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Mr. Speaker, we did raise the question of critical elements with the Biden administration. It is very important. It is important that, throughout North America, we believe in the importance of the auto sector and its supply chain, which goes to the critical elements sector. Of course, we will make the right investment to make it happen. Canada can be extremely proud of having these resources in ou…
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Mr. Speaker, I wish to reassure my colleague that, yes, we still have a good relationship, not only with the Biden administration, but also with Congress and all Americans.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know where my colleague is going with his question, but Canada is clearly a member of the Five Eyes, and we co-operate on a range of issues.
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Mr. Speaker, I was not in office at the time. However, I can tell my colleague that when the Americans decided to leave Afghanistan last August, Canada had long since left Afghanistan, in 2011, and its remaining soldiers left the country in 2014.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, conditions in Afghanistan were difficult and have become even more so since the Americans decided to leave the country.
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Mr. Speaker, that would be a question for my colleague, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, but with regard to the consular services that were offered and are still available. However, the diplomatic mission in Kabul is no longer—
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Mr. Speaker, there are several. Many of them have a connection to Canada. However, because Canada left Afghanistan in 2014, many interpreters also have a connection to several other countries because they were often serving other members of NATO, the military alliance Canada belongs to that was present in Afghanistan. I also want to let my colleague know that a number of countries are in a situati…
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Mr. Speaker, I would reply, why not?
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Mr. Speaker, of course we have the resources. When we welcomed 65,000 Syrian refugees, we were successful and we had the resources. My esteemed colleagues should be proud, because not many countries in the world would be prepared to receive 40,000 Afghans. We can be proud because we are ready to welcome them and we will be proud to welcome them.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague needs to understand two things. First of all, the situation in Afghanistan is very difficult right now in terms of safety and security. That is why my deputy minister went to the region to try to find solutions to bring in the 40,000 refugees as quickly as possible. In the meantime, however, my job is to speak with other countries—
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Mr. Speaker, any Canadian who is imprisoned anywhere in the world is a priority and has access to consular services.
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Mr. Speaker, as I told my colleague, we will always be there to protect Canadians, in Afghanistan or elsewhere in the world. That is a priority for our government.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to tell us why, in their own election platform last August, the Conservatives did not have plans to bring in 40,000 Afghan refugees. Why were they against the refugee program that was proposed by the government?
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Mr. Speaker, I did not hear my colleague ask a question. However, the name of that little boy was Aylan Kurdi. He had a name and an identity, and that was a tragedy. I would like my colleague to apologize to the House for referring to this tragedy as though it were a mere partisan ploy during the 2015 election campaign.
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Mr. Speaker, we can be proud of the way Canadians responded to the Syrian crisis in 2015. We can be proud that Canadians opened their arms and their hearts and welcomed Syrian refugees. I know that we can count on that same generosity with the Afghan refugees.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague that we are very much aware that using sanctions against individuals in certain contexts to deter their actions, or to deter the actions they can have on the part of their states, is a very effective tool. That is why, even recently, we made sure to put sanctions on people in Nicaragua, to make sure that we were sending a clear message about what was go…
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Mr. Speaker, of course, there are different acts that provide sanctions the Government of Canada can use. I would like to mention that right now there are 1,446 listings under the Special Economic Measures Act. Of those 1,446 listings, Belarus has 77 individuals; Myanmar has 124; China has five; Iran has 202; Nicaragua has 24; Russia has 210; and I could go on.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, we have many sanctions. I want to continue to list some of them. My colleague mentioned Magnitsky. There are 30 individuals who have been listed under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which the member was referring to as the Magnitsky act, upon whom sanctions have been imposed. This system is being used by the government, and we have a rigorous proc…
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Madam Chair, I would like to mention to my colleague that it is not New Zealand. It is Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. That being said, I would also mention that Canada is not in the business of making nuclear submarines.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague well knows, the IRGC Quds Force is listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code. That being said, I must say that I have had many conversations regarding the downing of flight PS752, even recently, with my Ukrainian, Swedish and U.K. counterparts. We will act together to make sure we are able to seek justice from Iran on this very important issue.
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Mr. Speaker, I had the chance to talk with Secretary Blinken about this very issue three times over the past three weeks. Obviously, for us Ukraine is a fundamental priority. We will make sure we work with like-minded countries to hold Russia to account and deter any military action on Ukraine.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned many times, we will use all the tools in our tool box to deter Russia from acting. That being said, I want to also say to my colleague that the question of working with the U.S., the U.K., Ukraine, Germany and many other countries is fundamental because we must de-escalate the conflict. That is why we have been able to work with partners on this very issue. I have also …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the brave women and men who are part of Operation Unifier. Indeed, my colleague is right. We have been in Ukraine for many years training thousands of military personnel for the Ukrainian military. We will continue to do that. Right now, we are working with many colleagues and looking at all options possible.
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Mr. Speaker, please wait a moment. My colleague, the President of the Treasury Board, is bringing me a lectern. I appreciate this opportunity to participate in today's debate. I have great respect and appreciation for this important democratic exercise. I will be speaking for 10 minutes, and then I will be happy to take questions. As the world is pivoting and we see a rise of authoritarianism, the…
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Madam Chair, I would like to thank my hon. colleague not only for his re-election, but also for the fact that he will be parliamentary secretary to a fantastic minister. That is humility and audacity together. I want to echo the facts that he outlined when talking about the importance of Asia. Canada is a Pacific country. We know that. We have a very important Pacific coast, therefore our engageme…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his excellent question and congratulate him on his re-election and his skilful use of the French language. I did just get back from Latvia. I had the opportunity to meet Canadian troops who are currently there on a very important mission to send Russia a very strong message that we will be there as NATO members to protect the borders of eastern Europe.…
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Madam Chair, in order to be very specific for my colleague, I want to know what strategic partnership she is referring to and what two other countries she is referring to.
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Madam Chair, we will always be there to support our allies within the alliance of NATO. That is why I had very important conversations with my colleagues. I had the chance to meet with my Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts, and we are very preoccupied with the security of the Baltics. I want to reassure my colleague, because we have military troops in Latvia doing what the member is referring to,…
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Madam Chair, all allies agree that we need to send a strong message to Belarus, and that the action of weaponizing migrants by the Belarus regime is not only reprehensible, it is unacceptable.
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