Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the service of Russell who lives in my colleague's community and what he did for Canadians. I will take a step back to some of the higher-level messaging the member set out in his speech, particularly with respect to his concern around spending and the debt level. I find it very difficult to understand how we will be able to invest in science and create v…
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Mr. Speaker, we have been assured that vaccine deliveries will not be disrupted by these new European Union measures. This is what the President of the European Commission told the Prime Minister and what ministers heard from their European counterparts over the weekend. Our government's top priority is to ensure that every Canadian who wants to will get vaccinated by September.
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Mr. Speaker, clearly there is fierce and intense global competition for the vaccines, but that is something we always expected. This is why Canada signed contracts for vaccines with no fewer than seven different suppliers. In our conversations with the Vice-President of the European Commission, we made it clear that we expect our contracts to be fulfilled, and the Minister of International Trade w…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague heard directly from the minister earlier today at committee, we have been reassured that vaccine shipments will not be interrupted by these new export measures. That is the message the Prime Minister himself received from the President of the European Commission and the message that various ministers across government have received from their EU counterparts over the c…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague is well aware, the minister had conversations with her counterpart in Belgium and received reassurances that our shipments would not be affected by these new EU measures. Let me just say there is intense global competition for vaccines across countries, and we always knew there would be. That is why Canada secured no less than seven different vaccine suppliers. We will…
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Mr. Speaker, every day when I speak to entrepreneurs, I am told again and again how important our wage subsidy is. It is a veritable lifeline for businesses from coast to coast to coast. Just recently, we launched a new program, the highly affected businesses program, which is going to support our hospitality industry and our tourism industry. I would like to emphasize how important it is to get t…
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Mr. Speaker, there was no shortage of points raised in my hon. colleague's speech that I would like to correct. Perhaps, just to mention off the top, in response to his mention of CUSMA, I would remind him that it was actually months of extensive work by all members of the House of Commons in order to negotiate a successful agreement, which was the result of the president at the time threatening t…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Let me first clarify something. I want to make sure my colleague understands that the study we did in committee was a pre-study on the possibility of signing a transitional agreement with the United Kingdom, and that we are awaiting the passage of Bill C-18 at second reading before we begin our study of the legislation and the text of the agreement…
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Mr. Speaker, it is indeed with great pleasure that I too rise virtually in the House of Commons today in support of our proposed legislation to ratify the agreement on trade continuity between Canada and the United Kingdom. Just as we welcomed the recent signing of this important agreement, the government is also very pleased to take the next step toward ratification so Canadian exporters can take…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Personally, I think the Bloc Québécois and all Quebeckers should be celebrating what we have achieved with this transitional agreement. I am very pleased and proud to say that, by preserving supply management, we have protected our dairy producers. As I said, we discussed this in committee, and I think our producers are happy with the transitiona…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question coming from my colleague, but, as I am sure he and all parliamentarians understand, when we negotiate a trade agreement with our global allies, we do so on the basis of the history and circumstances as they are at the time. It was the right move for Canada to conclude CETA at that time. It allowed us to grow our economy. It allowed us to export to a greater d…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for all of his work on the economic measures and the response to COVID-19. Certainly, one of the big successes of this continuity agreement is for our seafood producers, our exporters of lobster and seafood, who will benefit greatly. I am very pleased about that. In my community, I have many innovative tech companies, and I know they are looking to n…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me very clearly and on the record thank the former minister of trade for the work he has done, particularly with respect to CETA, which is a very good agreement, good for Canada and good for Canadian exporters. I hope he agrees. That is perhaps one of the reasons why I find it perplexing to suggest that successfully transitioning the very favourable provisions of CETA into a tra…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have travelled with my hon. colleague previously, certainly pre-pandemic, to Nunavut to visit and engage with small business owners. I know how dedicated he is to small businesses in his community and right across the country. When I listened to the story of Dave and the Wayward Distillery, I could not agree more with my colleague. They are certainly the true heroes of this pandem…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech and all of his work on the international trade committee, which I very much enjoy working on with him. I took notes during the member's speech. I look forward to working with him during the consultation process in order to get farmers in his community, particularly the white bean farmers, involved in providing feedback and advice to our gover…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague who sits on the international trade committee for all of his advocacy and work on international trade matters. I listened with a lot of interest to his speech. One thing that concerns me is this recital of the negotiation calendar without the context, which is completely normal. That is because we do not share our hand in poker. There are many reasons why in tra…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am always curious to see and hear what other countries around the world are doing, so that we can learn from them and use good ideas that may exist elsewhere. I hope to continue working with my colleague to see how we can further adjust the existing programs. I also want to remind my colleague that just this Tuesday, the Minister of Small Business announced the new HASCAP program, a…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I join you in thanking our incredible translators. I enjoy flipping back and forth from French to English. I hope it does not cause any anxiety in that respect. I will finish by again thanking my colleague for raising these issues. He certainly has my commitment and that of every member of this government to continue to work hard to support small businesses, including those in his rid…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Export Development Canada, EDC, is proud to be part of the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19. EDC collaborated in the design of the Canada emergency business account, CEBA, and works to deliver the program by providing support to Canadian financial institutions through funding, validation checks and administration. EDC will continue with current stimulus initiatives, as well…
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