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Mr. Speaker, one in six jobs depend on trade, and Canadians expect us to continue to focus on trade at this very moment. We are in a crisis, and we need to stay focused here.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member on his critic role. I look forward to working with him. Of course, the U.S. is an important trading partner, and discussions are happening at the highest levels.
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Madam Chair, it is important that we protect the industry. Today I met with representatives of the canola industry, and we talked about tariffs and about markets we can open up. These are discussions that are happening at the highest levels to—
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Mr. Speaker, as you know, my mandate is to help diversify trade around the world for Canadian businesses. That is what Canadian businesses expect us to do, especially when we go through some difficulties with our neighbour down south, and that is what my focus will be as a trade minister.
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Mr. Speaker, I think we need to come back to the issue at hand. Canadians want us to stay focused on trade diversification, especially the Minister of International Trade. That question would be more related to CBSA and to the Minister of Public Safety.
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Yes, Madam Chair, the Philippines provides ample opportunities. Earlier today, I met with leaders from the agriculture sector who talked about the agriculture office that we opened in Manila, Philippines, and the type of opportunities that office is providing. Now we see more of our beef going to that region and more of our meat products going to the Philippines. It is an important region that we …
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Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber industry, whether in B.C., in Ontario, across Canada, in Quebec or in eastern Canada, is a very important industry to us as a government and to the workers. We will continue to support them, but we want to make sure we get the best deal possible.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, our EV sector, our auto sector, is very important, especially in my neck of the woods. In Brampton, we have Stellantis, right in my riding. I think it is important that we continue to support the workers and the industry through innovation and through—
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Mr. Speaker, trade flows in many different ways through services and through merchandise. I think it is important to note that Canadian companies, and today I met with members of the agriculture sector, expect us to diversify our trading markets, especially in—
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Mr. Speaker, I am working with the Minister responsible for U.S.-Canada Trade to make sure we are able to work through this with our American allies. It is important to note that the softwood lumber industry is very important to our government.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that while the previous Conservative government capitulated and signed any deal possible, we want to make sure we get the right deal for Canadians by protecting the industry and ensuring that tariffs do not apply to our important softwood lumber industry.
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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, as the member opposite very well knows, I am not the Minister of Public Safety, and this is outside my scope.
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Mr. Speaker, last week in Paris, I met directly with my counterpart, Minister Wang, the minister of commerce, to work through these issues. The Prime Minister talked to the Chinese premier to work through issues as well. Conversations are happening at the highest levels.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that Indonesia is a market that we recently concluded negotiations with. Ecuador is another market that we recently concluded negotiations with. Indonesia is a big market, with over 250 million people; also, the Philippines is having conversations as well. What I heard today from the agriculture sector is the Indo-Pacific region—
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Madam Chair, as this is my first time rising for a speech in this House, I would like to take a moment to thank my incredible team of volunteers, my family and, of course, the residents of Brampton East for their support and for putting their trust in me to serve them here in Ottawa. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate all members of this House on their recent election wins. I look …
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Mr. Speaker, the canola industry is very important to this government. That is why, today, I met with leaders from the canola industry. I was also in Paris last week, where I sat down with China's minister of commerce, Wang Wentao, to work through some of these issues.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said, the canola industry is very important to our government. Today I heard about opportunities in the Philippines. The Philippines is a large market for the industry. We also opened up a new agriculture office in Manila to help with that.
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Mr. Speaker, today I sat down with agriculture leaders, especially in the canola sector, and what they asked me to do was to work through issues with China and to open up new markets. That is exactly what we will be focused on.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that we will always be there for our agriculture sector, but that is out of my scope. That is a question for the Minister of Agriculture. However, I want the agriculture industry to know that we will continue fighting for it and opening up new markets.
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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, 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, the World Trade Organization plays a very important role. Last week I had meetings in Paris through the WTO. There are important mechanisms in place, and we already have that in action.
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Mr. Speaker, trade is at the heart of what we do. It is important to note that the WTO plays a very prominent role to make sure that trade rules are protected. These trade panels could take up to a year, but we want to make sure that we are dealing in fair trade with all of our partners.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. At the G7, we will be talking about energy security, as it plays a critical role in Canada's negotiation power. Of course, Canada has what the world needs. We have energy, critical minerals, expertise and innovation, so we have a lot of what the world needs.
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Mr. Speaker, coming back to the conversation at hand, the U.S. is an important partner for Canada. These are some of the issues and irritants that our Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade is working through with his U.S. counterparts.
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Mr. Speaker, last week in Paris, I met with over a dozen trade ministers from regions all around the world. They want what Canada is producing, so we have a lot of opportunities for trade diversification, and that is exactly what I will be focused on.
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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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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, 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, 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, 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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