Mr. Chair, Honourable Members, thank you for the invitation to appear before you today.The work you do here is important, because the relationship between Canada and China is important to Canadians.
It has been nearly a year since I became minister of international development, and if this year has taught me anything, it is to reinforce how intricately connected our world is—from security to global health, inequality to climate change. Canada is intimately impacted by what is happening around the world.
Here at home, our government’s priority is to help homegrown businesses start up, scale up, access global markets, and succeed in a highly competitive global environment.
On August 6, the United States announced its decision to re-impose unjustified and unacceptable section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum products. Let me be clear- those tariffs were unacceptable and unjustified.
CETA [Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement]—our free trade agreement with the European Union—had just entered into force, thanks to the foresight of Pierre-Marc Johnson, former premier of Quebec. We had also just signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. And today, as you know, we are finalizing the ratification of the new NAFTA.
Nearly 30 years ago, the Government of Canada dedicated the first week of February to highlighting the actions of Canadian international assistance workers striving to improve peoples’ lives and our planet’s well-being.
As we celebrate 100 years since the birth of the original Prime Minister [Pierre Elliott] Trudeau, it is worthwhile to reflect on what has changed since his time in office and what remains the same and where Canada’s current approach to the world is going and should go.
Multilateralism, human rights, diversity and inclusion are at the core of Canada’s foreign policy—and Germany’s too. We are natural allies and we are proud to work with you in this regard.