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Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on 
Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Issue 7 - Fifth Report of the Committee

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade has the honour to table its

FIFTH REPORT

Your Committee, which was authorized by the Senate on June 28, 2006, to examine and report on certain aspects of the Canada-United States agreement on softwood lumber, tables the following interim report.

The Committee met on November 7, 21 and 22, 2006, on this issue and heard from the following individuals:

  • The Honourable David Emerson, P.C., M.P., Minister of International Trade, accompanied by the following officials from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada:

Paul Robertson, Director General, North America Trade Policy
Andrea Lyon, Chief Trade Negotiator (North America)
Hugh Cheetham, Senior Counsel and Deputy Director, Trade Law Bureau
Michael Solursh, Counsel, Trade Law Bureau

  • Lawrence Herman, Lawyer, Cassels Brock (as an individual)
  • Jon Johnson, Counsel, Goodmans (as an individual)
  • Carl Grenier, Executive Vice President, Free Trade Lumber Council of Canada
  • Gordon Ritchie, former Canadian ambassador for trade negotiations (as an individual)
  • Marc Busch, Professor of International Business Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (as an individual)
  • John Helliwell, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of British Columbia (as an individual)
  • Richard Harris, Professor of Economics, Simon Fraser University (as an individual)

The Committee concluded that the long term implications of agreements like the softwood lumber agreement, while both positive in some respects and problematic in others, justify further detailed study of bilateral and multilateral trade relations.

While keeping up with the evolution of the softwood lumber file, your Committee suggests that it undertake further study on Canada's international business policy, in view of the increased importance of global trade for the Canadian economy.

To this end, your Committee recommends that, notwithstanding the Order of the Senate adopted on Thursday, September 28, 2006, the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade be empowered to extend the date of presenting its final report from November 30, 2006, to December 31, 2007.

Respectfully submitted,

HUGH SEGAL

Chair

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