Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, last week in my meeting with Minister Wang, we talked about reopening JETC, which is the Joint Economic and Trade Commission, to have ongoing discussions to work through disputes, which is a great step forward. Also, the Prime Minister had a conversation with the Premier of China to talk about what more we can do to have more of these conversations to resolve these disputes.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member opposite for his recent election win and welcome him to the House. The member is talking about new markets. My first trip was to Ecuador. I was sworn in, and a week later I was in Ecuador to finalize negotiations on a trade agreement. We are working with Indonesia as well to unlock more markets there, and we have committed to finalizing an agree…
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Mr. Speaker, this gives me a chance to highlight our recent announcement in the defence sector. Our defence sector plays a crucial role in our exports, and I look forward to working with the industry to get it into newer markets, as well as growing into existing markets such as the European Union.
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Mr. Speaker, we are known for a lot of different types of energy supplies. We have sustainable energy; we are talking about the nuclear sector, and we are talking about LNG. There are a lot of things that Canada has to offer to the world, and that is what the world wants from Canada. That will be a critical conversation at the G7 coming up on energy security.
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Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of actions we are going to be taking as the government. This is a new government with a strong mandate from Canadians to make sure that we are able to get our critical minerals, our energy, out to new markets around the world, and that is what the world wants.
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Mr. Speaker, I support Canadian jobs; I support Canadian industry. I think it is very important to note that the world wants what Canada has. That is what I am hearing in the European Union, that is what I was hearing in Ecuador and that is—
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Mr. Speaker, the world is looking to Canada for our expertise in innovation and energy. I was born in Calgary, so I have a soft spot for that part of our country, especially when we talk about energy. I think it is very important to note that people want what Canada is building.
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Mr. Speaker, we have products going out to different regions in the world. When we are talking about energy, I think we have a lot of potential. We just recently signed a deal on nuclear with Romania on the CANDU reactors. We are now in phase two. That is supporting hundreds of jobs. We have different types of energy supplies going out to different—
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Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about our defence strategy and what we just recently announced, I think energy plays a critical role in those conversations. We are going to see more of that at the G7. It is actually one of the pillars for talking about energy security, talking about critical minerals and what Canada has to offer.
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Mr. Speaker, coming back to the heart of things, I think it is important that our workers and our industries are supported by their government, and that is exactly what we will be focused on. We will be building big things, working with proponents across Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, currently, about 3.3 million people are employed due to our exports. They are an important part of our economy. One in six Canadian jobs is supported by trade, and I think it is important, while we work on reducing internal trade barriers, that we ensure that export markets are opened up as well.
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Mr. Speaker, thousands of jobs across this country are supported by trade, and it is very vital. We are a trading nation. That is why we have 15 trade agreements with over 50 countries around the world. We have access to 1.5 billion customers, whom we need to continue shipping good Canadian-made goods out to.
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that these numbers are all available on the website. What we want to talk about today is workers and Canadian industries. That is what people at home are watching for. This is a time of crisis. Some 75% of our trade that goes to the U.S. is at risk, and that is why it is important that we open up new markets such as the Indo-Pacific region and the Europ…
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Mr. Speaker, what our government is doing is supporting industries and supporting workers. Just today I met with the agriculture industry, and they were very happy that we are opening up talks with partners like those in China. As a path forward, we are going to relaunch the JETC, the joint economic and trade commission, to ensure that we are able to—
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the new member to the House, but I hope he studies which ministers do what, because as members know, I am the Minister of International Trade. My focus and mandate are to diversify trade to external markets.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we have a Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. I am not allowed to say her name, but I think it is important that as cabinet colleagues and MPs, we all work together to ensure that we are able to reduce barriers to grow internal trade throughout our country.
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Mr. Speaker, internal trade barriers do exist, and that is why it is important that we work with our provincial and territorial partners to ensure that we are able to unlock those barriers and unlock over $100 billion in economic activity in our country. However, while we do that, we also want to focus on export markets. The agriculture industry is one industry that is highly supported by exports,…
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Mr. Speaker, this new government has a strong mandate from Canadians to make sure that we are able to diversify trade, but while we do that, of course, we are going to reduce internal trade barriers by working with provinces and territories. I think that is important to note for Canadians watching.
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Mr. Speaker, coming back to my scope and mandate, they are to make sure that I am out there diversifying trade in international markets. Of course, we have a Minister of Transport and Internal Trade as well, whom we will be working closely with, but we want to reduce trade barriers, whether they are international or within our own country.
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Mr. Speaker, the provinces are very ambitious. The Prime Minister is very ambitious. We have a strong mandate from Canadians to work with the provinces and territories to reduce internal trade barriers.
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Mr. Speaker, the question is a very important one. When we are talking about fertilizer and export markets, it is very important to note, as I have been talking to colleagues and trade ministers across the globe, that people are looking towards our fertilizer industry, at potash specifically and how they can get that into their markets.
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Mr. Speaker, since Ecuador came up, it gives me an opportunity to talk about that important relationship. I was just in Ecuador a couple of weeks ago to finalize the conclusion of negotiations of an Ecuador free trade agreement with Canada. That is going to be a trade agreement that opens up a market to close to 20 million people. We already have Canadian companies doing over $4 billion of busines…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has what the world needs. It is about energy security. I think we have a lot of energy.
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Different types of energy go out to different markets around the world. We need to get these supplies to export markets. Some of these big projects that we are going to be building with the provinces will support jobs across Canada and—
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that the United Kingdom is an important trade partner for Canada. Currently, we have a system in place to give us access to 99% of its market. It is working really well. I sat down with the trade minister when I was in Paris last week to open discussions on coming to a trade agreement. Right now, we have access to 99% of its market.
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed sitting on the trade committee with the hon. member. Speaking of CBAM, the carbon border adjustment mechanism, which came up a lot at committee, it is very important to note that Canada has very progressive environmental policies in place to make sure we are on a level playing field with other countries that believe in protecting the environment. It is important to note that…
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Mr. Speaker, we talked about the EU, and I believe that measure is coming into force in 2026. That is something we are working on with our colleagues, but it is important to note that, right now, we have progressive environmental policies in place to make sure we protect our industries and our environment at the same time.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that at this current time we are in a crisis, and we need to continue supporting our workers and our industries. CBAM is a very important part of that conversation, which came up at committee. I remember when the Conservatives were against any type of progressive environmental policy. We knew that it would hurt our workers at the end of the day, and we want to …
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Mr. Speaker, what the trade minister and I talked about was a commitment to making sure we are able to restart talks on that. I am sure our officials will get to it as soon as possible. We look forward to having the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom come, this weekend, to Canada, so that we can welcome them, continue to discuss our relationship and grow it even further.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of our beef and meat industry, I did have a conversation earlier today and last week on access to new markets, including in the United Kingdom, for our sectors. This will be a conversation we will have, and I know officials will follow up as well.
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Mr. Speaker, the issue around CARM is what we studied. It is a new way for Finance and the CBSA to collect revenues. The Auditor General has said it is the way forward to improve accuracy. Of course, there are always kinks to be worked out when a new system is put in place, but I believe this is under the scope of the Minister of Public Safety and the CBSA, and those are discussions I will continu…
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Mr. Speaker, the CARM project was put in place way back when, during a Conservative government. This has been going on for over a decade, and we need to continue working together with all parties and my other ministerial colleagues to work through it. CARM is an important adjustment for collecting revenues accurately from importers that bring in goods, but that is a conversation I will actively ha…
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Mr. Speaker, I have attended many trade shows and have come across many importers that have come across the CARM system, and yes, there are importers that are fully set up and using the system, but there are also other importers that are having some issues. This is what I brought up to our Minister of Public Safety. As I said, this impacts importers across Canada, and we want to make sure the syst…
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Mr. Speaker, what I do know is that the CBSA is working very hard to resolve these issues. It is important to note the Minister of Public Safety, whose scope this falls under, is fully aware of them.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we want to make sure trade is easy for businesses to do. Why did a previous government, the Conservative government, bring forward the CARM system? It is because it is about the collection of revenues and accuracy. We want to make sure that we are able to bring it into force, but of course, that falls under the scope of the Public Safety Minister and the C…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has ambition, and we have a strong mandate from Canadians to build Canada strong. Part of building Canada strong is these major projects to get our resources to market.
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Mr. Speaker, since we are talking about foreign direct investments, I would like to quote some numbers. Investment flows into Canada recorded a robust 36% increase from 2023 to reach $85.5 billion—
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we received a strong mandate from Canadians to build big projects. The world wants what Canada is building, and we need to continue building—
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question, and I will let the Minister of Foreign Affairs answer that as it is under her scope.
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Mr. Speaker, we expect all Canadian companies to follow all guidelines and, of course, protections for labour provisions, protections for environment and protections for indigenous peoples. That is what we expect. We do have systems in place to ensure that there is a complaint line and there are follow-ups through the national contact point.
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Mr. Speaker, children's clothes, diapers, car seats, board games, prepared food, snacks, video games and children's toys will all cost 13% less tomorrow in Ontario. This is thanks to the tax break on GST that our Liberal government brought forward. While the Conservatives sat down and voted against tax savings for Canadian families, we understand that this time of year is hard on families. We want…
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Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber industry is very important to our government. We know it represents thousands of jobs, from British Columbia to Quebec and down to eastern Canada. We will always stand up for Canadian softwood lumber. We stood up for Canada when the U.S. imposed aluminum and steel tariffs on us. What did the Conservatives do? They asked us to capitulate and back down. We have a pro…
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Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Prime Minister led a Canadian delegation to Florida to meet with President-elect Trump. They had a productive discussion on border and economic security, including the impacts the tariffs would have on both Canadian and American consumers. In 2018, it was this government that renegotiated NAFTA, which led to a record trade of $1.3 trillion just last year. As we have don…
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Madam Speaker, our trade relationship with the U.S. is of utmost importance and it is a key priority for our government. What Canadians want to know is where the Conservatives were last night with their axe. They did not vote in favour of axing the tax. On this side of the House, Liberal MPs stood strong with Canadian families and voted to axe the GST for two months so Canadians can save up to 13%…
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Madam Speaker, it is this government that has a clear track record of working with the Trump administration. In 2016, we worked with it. In 2018, we renegotiated NAFTA when the Conservatives repeatedly asked us to capitulate. We will continue to stand up for Canadian jobs and Canadian workers. We will continue to be at the table with a team Canada approach, with premiers and with stakeholders acro…
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Mr. Speaker, we will always stand up for forestry workers and our lumber industry. We stood up for Canada when the U.S. imposed aluminum and steel tariffs on us. What did the Conservatives say? They urged us to back down and capitulate. When we renegotiated NAFTA back in 2018, we stood strong and protected Canada's economy while the Conservatives asked us to capitulate. We have a proven track reco…
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Mr. Speaker, the U.S. is a very important partner to our economy and our relationships with the rest of the world. The member talks about trade. We had $1.3 trillion of trade last year with the U.S., which is a record since we renegotiated NAFTA in 2018. We will continue to be at the table with a team Canada approach as we continue to protect Canadian businesses and workers.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear: We will always be there to protect Canadian workers and Canadian businesses. We have been there for Canadians before, when we renegotiated NAFTA. I remind the member opposite that it was the Conservatives who wanted us to capitulate during that time, but we stood strong. That is a testament to the facts: Canada-U.S. trade was at an all-time high last year of $1.3 t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an immense privilege to stand before you today and speak to one of the most critical relations our nation has ever known, the enduring and dynamic partnership between Canada and the United States of America. Today, as we gather here in this great country, we are not just reflecting on the past. We are setting our sights firmly on a future where the Canada-U.S. relationship not o…
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Mr. Speaker, it was our government that renegotiated NAFTA in 2018. It was our government that stood up when the Conservative Party of Canada said to capitulate, give in and give everything they want. We stood strong. We got the agreement, and last year, there was $1.3 trillion of trade between our two countries. It is the Liberal government that signed close to 15 free trade agreements that gave …
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