Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Issue 20 - Evidence - Meeting of December 3, 2014
OTTAWA, Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met this day at 4:17 p.m. to examine the potential for increased Canada-United States-Mexico trade and investment, including in growth areas in key resource, manufacturing and service sectors; the federal actions needed to realize any identified opportunities in these key sectors; and opportunities for deepening cooperation at the trilateral level.
Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade is meeting this afternoon to examine the potential for increased Canada-United States-Mexico trade and investment, including in growth areas in key resource, manufacturing and service sectors; the federal actions needed to realize any identified opportunities in these key sectors; and the opportunities for deepening cooperation at the trilateral level.
By way of video conference from Mexico, where I am sure it is much warmer than it is in the snow here, representing Ontario's Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure, we're very pleased to welcome Ms. Chantal Ramsay, Counsellor (Commercial — Ontario) and Ontario Government Representative in Mexico.
Representing Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, we have François Rivest, Minister Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Canada in Mexico.
To each of you, welcome to the committee. I would ask for any opening comments and then we generally turn to questions. I am not sure who would like to start.
Chantal Ramsay, Counsellor (Commercial — Ontario) and Ontario Government Representative in Mexico, Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure (Ontario): It is a pleasure to be here and for me to be speaking before such an august group. We thank you very much for the invitation to the Honourable Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. While I'm sure he would have been delighted to appear before this committee, everybody at the ministry thought it would be better if someone who had the experience in Mexico, given that's what you are interested in, was here to speak.
As this is very focused on the trilateral arrangement, I will give some background as to what the Ontario international marketing centres are, which is what my office is called.
We are, in every instance, collocated with a Canadian mission abroad. Therefore, we operate in strategic global locations. In the Americas we have offices in Sao Paulo, San Francisco, New York and in Mexico City.
The international marketing centres engage in activities connected to Ontario's key economic priority sectors and their mandate is to attract foreign direct investment into Ontario, promote and facilitate exports from Ontario into key global markets such as Mexico, and raise the economic and innovation profile of Ontario around the world.
We facilitate research and commercialization partnerships and provide in-market support to trade and investment mission delegates and to the premier and minister when they are travelling abroad.
I have, unfortunately, not had the honour of having a minister or my premier here during my visit, but I'm ever hopeful I will have them here with us. I have two more years before I leave.
Each collocation is governed by a memorandum of understanding between Ontario and DFATD. Certainly in my estimation it is an excellent example of federal-provincial cooperation resulting in cost efficiencies and high program effectiveness.
My ability to do my job is enormously enhanced by having federal resources available to me. And I am also hopeful that when my federal colleagues are looking to do business in and with Ontario that they are able to use the resources I have in Ontario. I have had the fortune of working for the Ministry of Economic Development, in many of its iterations, for almost 30 years and prior to that for the federal government. So my ties run deep in Ontario and I can provide those to my federal government colleagues.
This helps both levels of government operate more efficiently and we plan and conduct missions together. We do business planning together. We attend trade shows together, and we co-host booths together. In the context of Mexico and Canada and Ontario, we have an extremely effective and good working relationship.
I can speak later about some of the things we have done together and that we will be doing together in the coming year, in particular in a context as important as the Pan American Games, which will take place in Toronto, and the Pan American Economic Summit that will take place before. It is co-hosted by the CEO of Grupo Bimbo, Daniel Servitje, who is Canada's latest significant investor and so we're pleased to have him as part of the team.
The Chair: We will now turn to our next speaker.
François Rivest, Minister Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner, Embassy of Canada in Mexico, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada: Madam Chair and honourable senators, thank you for your invitation. It's an honour to be here today. I am the Minister Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. The role of the Trade Commissioner Service, as you know, is to help Canadian companies that want to do business, pursue business opportunities in foreign markets; to promote investment into Canada; to facilitate the innovation partnerships; and to generally promote Canada's economic interests in foreign markets.
We have a team of trade commissioners at the embassy in Mexico City, as well as at the Consulate General of Canada in Monterrey and the Consulate of Canada in Guadalajara. In addition, EDC has a team of five people in Mexico, and the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec have a presence in the country.
My assistant deputy minister, David Morrison, already appeared before the committee and I won't be repeating the information he provided to you in his testimony.
Mexico, as you know, is Canada's third largest trade partner on a bilateral merchandise basis, with total trade of $32 billion in 2013. Canada is also the fourth most important investor in Mexico with cumulative investment of $17.5 billion in 2013, and Mexico is the second most important tourist destination for Canadians with 1.6 million Canadians visiting Mexico in 2012.
You heard in earlier testimony about the importance and continued growth of Canadian investments in Mexico. There are some 200 Canadian mines in Mexico that are owned and operated by Canadian firms. The embassy knows of over 45 Canadian automotive suppliers, as well as a multitude of Canadian plants and operations in other sectors, including aerospace, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, ICT and energy. In the services sector, there are a range of Canadian companies operating in ICT, energy, tourism, transportation and financial services.
The most prominent example in financial services is Scotiabank, which according to its own data, has 816 branches in Mexico.
But Canada and the U.S. are not alone in seeing Mexico as an important trade and investment partner. For example, in the auto sector, there are now less than a handful of global automobile manufacturers that don't have at least one plant in Mexico, with the result that Mexico produced 3 million light vehicles in 2013 and according to the Mexican Automotive Association and the Government of Mexico, it is expected to produce more than 4.3 million cars in 2019. Canadian tier 1 auto parts manufacturers like Magna, Linamar, have followed suit and opened plants in Mexico to be part of this supply chain.
Another interesting sector where a lot of investment is taking place in Mexico is the aerospace sector. According to the Mexican Aerospace Federation, over the past five years Mexico has been the premier destination for aerospace investment globally, only recently displaced by the United States.
World-class companies in the aerospace sector, including Bombardier, Safran and others have significant production in Mexico.
Foreign investments have been announced recently in other sectors, notably in ICT, such as Huawei from China, and Tech Mahindra from India.
Canadian companies are benefiting from the success of Mexico. Mexican officials frequently note that for every car produced in their country, 40 per cent of its value is Canadian and/or U.S. content.
On the other hand, Mexican companies are also looking to invest abroad. Traditionally, Mexico has been a modest investor in the U.S. and in Latin America, but some of their larger companies are showing an increasing appetite for the rest of the world. We saw this recently with Grupo Bimbo's $1.8 billion acquisition of Canada Bread earlier this year. Why is Mexico becoming such a magnet for foreign business investment? With the new government of Peña Nieto, the country has been positioning itself to become globally competitive.
The Peña Nieto government has introduced a series of reforms that you have certainly heard about and has announced an ambitious infrastructure plan totalling nearly $600 billion over the next six years, which will be funded significantly through public-private partnerships.
Like Canada, and according to Mexico's Economy Secretariat, Mexico has negotiated many free trade agreements: Ten FTAs providing access to 45 countries. Mexico, like Canada, is a member of the TPP negotiations and NAFTA. Mexico is a member of the Pacific Alliance, composed of Colombia, Chile, Peru and Mexico. The country has a competitive labour force that is well educated, productive and young, with an average age of 27 years. Its cost of labour, while it was twice as expensive as China two decades ago, is now 20 per cent less expensive than China. It has a growing middle class of 40 million people.
Mexico also has an enviable geographic location. It is a democracy, and it has relatively sound fiscal and monetary policies.
In conclusion, Mexico is already a very important partner for Canada by virtue of its membership in NAFTA and its location, but as it rises to become globally competitive, we have an opportunity to help Mexico and to benefit from the growth it will enjoy in the coming years. Thank you very much.
The Chair: Thank you for your input.
Before I start, I should advise the committee that Senator Housakos, due to his new duties in the Senate, will not continue to serve on this committee. I will send a letter of acknowledgment on your behalf for his service here. I would like to welcome Senator Eaton, who has joined the committee. We're in the middle of a number of studies, and I'm sure you will catch up rather quickly. Thank you for joining us.
Senator Johnson: Thank you for appearing today. I'm wondering if either or both of you could answer this question: Since the institution of Mexico's energy sector reforms, have you seen an up-tick in Canadian firms seeking assistance and finding local investment opportunities or projects?
Ms. Ramsay: I will answer what I can and perhaps François can answer a little further. Certainly there is a continuing and ongoing interest to the point that for the very first time Ontario will be, in the coming fiscal year, looking at doing an incoming and outgoing mission in the oil and gas sector. It is not a place where Ontario has played before.
One problem is that the largest event in Mexico is Congresso Mexicano del Petroleo, and that happens in Acapulco every year. Unfortunately, it is at exactly the same time as the Global Petroleum Show, so we're trying to figure out how we can make it work for Ontario companies who want to be in Calgary and Mexico.
There is an up-tick. I think there is also caution. The reforms have been coming out slowly. The round one information only came out a few weeks ago so people are learning where the opportunities are, but everybody is paying attention.
Mr. Rivest: If I may, I would like to add we have seen interest from Canadian companies, and we have seen companies that were not traditionally in Mexico come to Mexico to look at opportunities as a result of the reforms. We have seen companies win new contracts as a result of the reforms.
The best example of a newcomer to Mexico is ATCO, from Alberta, a major player in Canada. They came to Mexico in July of this year and have already won two contracts, which have been announced in the past few weeks. The largest one was for about $800 million in partnership with a local partner to build a power generation plant in Mexico.
There are others that are coming. There are a significant number of smaller companies showing an interest, and we're helping them pursue opportunities in Mexico.
Although the laws have been introduced and so on, the impact on the markets and in the sector is more gradual, but we're already seeing some success stories. Likewise, it is not only about selling products or services, it is also about helping them develop their skills. As a result, they are projecting a significant requirement in training and so on of their professionals and labour, and we have Canadian educational institutions that have come to Mexico, or Mexico has gone to Canada, Calgary and Saskatchewan to look for partners to help develop those skills.
The University of Calgary, for example, is one of the key players here. Before the reforms, we already had a significant interest in Mexico's energy sector. We have a lot of Canadian companies that were providing services and products to Pemex, but now the game is changing with Pemex having lost this monopoly.
Ms. Ramsay: The elephant in the room is, in fact, Pemex and the oil and gas reform, but Mexico has instituted some renewable energy targets that are quite aggressive and that were not previously on the horizon. And so for Canadian and Ontario companies, in particular in the green energy sector, we also see opportunities. And we are working with a number of Canadian and Ontario solar companies in Mexico at present.
Senator Johnson: Can we turn now to Mexico? They recently cancelled the much-touted 210-kilometre high-speed rail contract with the Chinese firms, and there was criticism about the tendering process of the deal as being ''opaque.'' How can Canadian firms, in your view, be assured that future public tendering processes will be more open and transparent in order for firms like Bombardier to get a fair shot?
Mr. Rivest: I think at the federal level the president is quite aware of the need to be transparent and fair in how they award contracts and how the bidding process is managed. He ended up cancelling this award because of perceived — I highlight the word ''perceived'' — criticism in the media about the way it was done. Bombardier and many others decided not to bid because the time required to put the bid together was too short according to those that decided not to bid. Now there will be a longer period to bid for the contract and perhaps the other players will be able to participate.
Bombardier is a significant player in the Mexican market. They are pursuing several projects, and the president is aware of the need to be transparent. That's why he decided to cancel the contracts for the Querétaro train because of perceptions and criticism in the public domain. All the contracts are awarded based on the tendering process, which is seen as being fairly transparent.
Senator Dawson: Pemex might be one of the elephants in the room, but the effect of the visa requirement on facilitating the work between Ontario businesspeople and Mexico, are you hoping that you can facilitate that access over the next few months? It does seem to have been a problem. I know if Bombardier is going to be pursuing Mexico as a growth market, that's been a handicap in the past.
My second question, since I have your attention, would be: The Ontario-Ottawa angle seems to be well covered with you here. I was wondering about the relationship with the third part of the infernal triangle at the centre of Canada. How is your relationship with the Quebec office in Mexico, and how do you work together?
Ms. Ramsay: I'd be delighted to go first. Obviously, I think that the federal government, when they first imposed the visa, did so out of absolute necessity because of the problems that were occurring at that time in Mexico with large-scale illegal immigration into Canada and then some of that just slipping through the Northern border into the U.S. That was also a concern, I believe, for the U.S., when it was imposed, because it was imposed from one day to the next, it was chaos. I don't think there's any other way to describe it at that time. Nobody was prepared.
That's very unfortunate. Due to some of the bad news that happened then, Mexicans still feel that it is a very complicated process. We actually had a brief presentation from the minister of consular immigration here. Federally, they're looking at doing some new programming. They streamlined the process. For those major companies, companies that Ontario works with on a regular basis, that are sending people back and forth, they have a very specialized program that allows and facilitates visitor visas within two business days.
If we know about it in advance, if they're on our radar of business relations, we normally can make it work. There's still a public perception out there, unfortunately, that it is difficult. If I had my druthers, as Chantal Ramsay, Ontario citizen, I would say that, if we were going to take the visa off of Chile, we should have thought about taking the visa off of Mexico first, but that's just me.
It normally works. I have only heard of one or two of my Mexican business colleagues in the time I have been here who have had their visas refused. They have come to me and we have managed to get them visas on the second try.
To the second question, the Ontario office has a very warm working relationship with the Quebec delegation here. We look for events that we can do together. Our sectors don't always match, so that makes it a little more challenging. But we actually, as I do with my federal colleagues right now, in a business planning process, reach out to the Quebec delegation to find out where and when we can cooperate on missions and/or events.
Senator Dawson: Anything to add?
Mr. Rivest: Maybe just to say that the embassy or the Government of Canada has taken steps to facilitate the visa process. For example, our visa section now issues multiple entry visas as a default, which allows Mexicans who have a visa from the Government of Canada to enter as often as they need to for the life of their visa, which is equal to the life of their passport.
We have introduced the business express program, which allows companies that are registered under this program, or their employees, to apply for a visa through a streamlined and faster process. We have announced CAN+, which makes it faster and easier for Mexicans who have been to Canada or the United States with a visa in the past 10 years to obtain a visa from Canada.
On the second question, we work very closely with the provinces, as I mentioned earlier, that have representation here. We also, of course, help companies from other provinces, but we work very closely with the Quebec delegation. They're in a separate building not far away from here. We have regular meetings and exchange information. We do planning sessions together, and this is at all levels — the Ambassador with the délégué général, me with the head of the economic section, and at the level of every officer.
When we have missions or events or get service requests from a company from Quebec, for example, we work together on helping those companies.
[Translation]
Senator Dawson: I know Ms. Marois visited you just over a year ago. Do you have any examples of the positive outcomes from that visit?
Mr. Rivest: I was not here at the time, but we talked about it at length with the members of the Quebec delegation. They were very pleased with the visit. The outcome was stronger ties with the Mexican government, the state of Jalisco, the city of Guadalajara, while raising the profile of the Province of Quebec. Quebec works very closely in a number of sectors with Mexico at federal level, but also at state level in some cases. What I heard — once again, I was not here — is that they were pleased with the Quebec delegation and the assistance that we provided.
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: Ms. Ramsay, Mr. Rivest, thank you for your presentations.
Ms. Ramsay, you have been working in economic development for the Government of Ontario since 1986. You are now the head of the Ontario office in Mexico. You have also been an economic affairs consul for the Government of Ontario in Los Angeles, California.
Here is my question: To increase trade and investment between Canada, the United States and Mexico, to what extent do you think we should promote our official representation in Mexico and the United States?
Ms. Ramsay: If you do not mind, I will answer in English.
[English]
To be clear on my answer, I'm not sure that I would be the one who should answer on how Canada could increase its representation in the U.S. and in Mexico. I certainly think the fact that Ontario has representation in San Francisco, New York and Mexico speaks volumes to our interest in those markets and how we collaborate with the federal government.
One of the things that helps enormously, from my perspective as the Ontario representative, is actually having more high-level delegations visit from a business perspective. In Ontario's case — and in this case I will not speak for the federal government; I am now speaking as the representative in Mexico and not for my minister who may actually have something to say about this — I don't feel that there is enough time spent on the Ontario-Mexico relationship as there could and should be from the perspective of high-level delegations coming down.
I certainly did have those when I was in California. Everybody, whether it is Canada, Mexico or Ontario, has been blindsided by the world's love of India, China and Brazil. To get the kind of high-level delegation that I think we need in Mexico is very difficult when I am competing with India, China and Brazil.
I don't know whether that answers your question.
[Translation]
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: What I wanted to know is whether, in addition to high-level delegations, which are very important, you or the Government of Ontario have been able to see whether there are enough offices for Ontarians to do business with when they go to the United States or Mexico.
I know this is a sensitive issue for you, because you said that the minister is the one who can answer the question. In addition to delegations, what type of representation would be most beneficial? And in which places do you think Ontario's official representation should be increased?
[English]
Ms. Ramsay: When we decide to put an office somewhere, we look at it specifically from a trade and investment perspective. The reason we are in California is the size of the California market in and of itself, and the trade and investment linkages that Ontario has with California. In the case of New York, it is the importance of the financial services and bond market and the relationship that Ontario has with New York from a trade and investment perspective. In Mexico, it is because Mexico is such an important trade market for us. So I don't think, from Ontario's perspective, there would be another market where I would suggest to the Ontario government that we should have a market right at the moment.
Again it has somewhat to do with sectors, but it might be for Ontario to think about putting an officer in the Consulate General in Monterrey, which we don't have at the moment. We have that kind of relationship in India, for example, where the Ontario international marketing centre is in New Delhi with the Canadian-based officer and the locally engaged staff. And then we have a senior trade and investment officer in Bangalore.
There would be some benefit for Ontario to think about doing the same thing in Monterrey. They haven't asked me to make that suggestion yet, but I'm happy to make it here at the committee.
[Translation]
Senator Fortin-Duplessis: My other question is for Mr. Rivest.
In October 2013, business organizations from Canada, the United States and Mexico argued that our respective governments could do more to create a more integrated and competitive North American economic space. In your view, are there any solutions that have not yet been explored and that would foster greater mutual understanding and help break down cultural barriers?
Mr. Rivest: In terms of cultural barriers, we have a lot of affinities with Mexico. Of course, there are differences, but if we compare the situation with the other countries we do business with, one of the benefits of dealing with Mexico is that we share a cultural affinity nonetheless. The two countries also share a cultural interest.
I was talking earlier about the Province of Quebec, but there is also an interest in cultural business opportunities with the other provinces. I mentioned that Quebec in particular has been quite successful in this area with Mexico.
Ever since the private sectors of the three countries spoke to this issue in October 2013, a lot of things have been accomplished. The North American Leaders Summit was held in Toluca in 2014. Prime Minister Harper attended, and so did President Obama and President Peña Nieto. They made a joint statement announcing commitments in various sectors such as security, trade, education and the movement of people. In so doing, the leaders also asked that the responsible departments of the three countries focus on honouring the commitments made by the leaders at the summit.
A North American competitiveness plan was also developed and announced when Mr. Fast, the Minister of International Trade, visited his counterpart in Santiago in 2013. We are talking about a series of commitments to trilateralize the existing bilateral cooperation and to reduce barriers in a number of areas. These are two examples of commitments at the highest level to reduce barriers and increase North America's competitiveness, among other things.
There is also the Canada-Mexico partnership, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The last meeting was held in Calgary, where many commitments were made to increase cooperation in various sectors.
So yes, there are a lot of things to do, but we have been making progress, and it is quite positive. Some experts say that Mexico will be the fifth largest economy in the world in 2050, and we must not pass up the opportunity to work with Mexico.
[English]
Ms. Ramsay: I will add to this, because there is a private sector organization based in Texas, NASCO, the North American Strategy for Competitiveness, which looks at different kinds of barriers, including supply chain, and it is a very active organization. Its most recent annual conference was in Mexico in September 2014, and it goes from country to country. The next one will be in Windsor in 2015. The United States pays huge attention to this organization, and the level of participation from federal U.S. departments in Mexico at that conference was significant. Unfortunately, the level of participation from Canadian government officials was not.
We hurt ourselves by not paying attention to private sector organizations that are also working to facilitate trade and investment and break down barriers, and I am hoping there will be significant Canadian participation when the conference is next hosted in Windsor.
The Chair: I have a few questions. We're looking at trilateral arrangements — U.S., Canada and Mexico — so we're looking at it bilaterally and trilaterally. With the liberalization in Mexico and the change in laws, everyone has been telling us there are increased opportunities. Is the U.S. starting to pay attention to that as much as we are? Can you comment on where the windows of opportunity for trilateralism are?
Mr. Rivest: Thank you very much for those two questions. Yes, the U.S. is very focused on Mexico. You will have possibly seen concerns in the media that the United States is increasingly focused on Mexico to the detriment of Canada. Whether that's true or not is not for me to say, but, certainly, there has been increased interest. President Obama has launched a high-level economic dialogue with Mexico. There are ongoing exchanges and visits between the two countries. Mexico's very important for the United States from a trade perspective but also in security, immigration and so on. You know about the recent announcement on immigration by President Obama, and this is, to a certain degree, driven by their interest in smoothing things or normalizing things with Mexico.
I'm not an expert in this area, but this may be a sign of the United States' greater interest in Mexico. Yes, they're very interested in doing things with Mexico.
Your second question was?
Ms. Ramsay: Trilateralism — opportunities for.
Mr. Rivest: Yes, the two items that I mentioned in the earlier question, the North American Leaders' Summit, NALS, and North American Competitiveness Work Plan both have commitments. At the North American Leaders' Summit, the three leaders issued a joint statement, with a series of commitments to trilateralize in many areas. In regulatory collaboration, for example, in security, in trade and investment, in education, in transborder movements, et cetera.
There is a long list of opportunities where we can trilateralize. Whether we should or not is another question, but the leaders have made a commitment to trilateralize in many areas.
The Chair: You say ''whether we should or not.'' What would the negatives on that be, in your opinion?
Mr. Rivest: There are some areas that are more difficult than others or where it is not feasible to trilateralize in the short term.
The Chair: Do you have one example? If that's too much of a political question, you don't have to answer it.
Mr. Rivest: I'm not sure that I can venture too far down that road.
The Chair: The minister, Mr. Fast, was before us in another capacity and talked about the Global Markets Action Plan and the strategy of the government moving towards trade marketing, which is a new field for many countries. How will this affect Mexico and our relations? Have you been given further instructions? Have you thought of how you can incorporate that in a different way to maximize our benefits in Mexico?
Mr. Rivest: Yes. Mexico is a priority market in the G-MAP. It is also a priority market in Canada's International Education Strategy. The embassy and the two consulates in Monterrey and Guadalajara are working together to ensure that your activities and our priorities in Mexico are aligned with the Global Markets Action Plan.
So we are, for example, aligning our priority sectors with those of the G-MAP, and we are using the tools and the strategies that are outlined in the G-MAP. We are also doing things like increased use of social media, new ways of working that are encouraged by our ministers and by our departments.
The Chair: Ms. Ramsay, I did have a question for you, but you answered it before I got there. I'm inclined to agree with you that the provinces are almost competing or rushing, sometimes together, to India, China, Brazil, and even, at one point, Russia.
One of our study issues will be: Do we deepen our relationship on this continent before we look elsewhere, or how do we balance all of those needs and competitions? Thank you for highlighting it from a provincial standpoint. We have been looking at it from the federal one.
Senator Ataullahjan: You have already mentioned my question. I was going to ask about the commitments that we have made to education. You mentioned the education strategy. I don't know if you want to elaborate any more on the commitments made to education.
Mr. Rivest: Yes. Thank you for that question. Again, Mexico is a priority in the International Education Strategy. The International Education Strategy includes a goal to increase the number of students from other markets studying in Canada. We have an education program in Mexico and in the two consulates to promote education in Canada, to promote linkages between educational institutions, between our two countries, exchange of faculty and so on.
It is an ongoing program, and the potential in Mexico is huge. I don't have an exact figure, but my understanding is that we have approximately between 8 and 12,000 Mexican students studying in Canada. That compares to — the last time I saw the figure — about 80,000 from China. There is a huge pool of students in Mexico who could be potentially interested in studying in Canada.
As you know, once these students have studied one year or more in Canada, they become great spokespeople, great allies for Canada when they come back to Mexico.
Ms. Ramsay: I will follow up just to say that Ontario has cooperated with federal colleagues on education. The federal government runs an Imagine Fair every February in Mexico that is extremely well attended. I think we will have the biggest fair this year. As to interest from Canadian institutions, well over half of those institutions are from Ontario.
I think that the other opportunity — and it was mentioned briefly by Mr. Rivest — is for training. I'm hoping, very shortly, to have an official announcement of a major training contract by an Ontario college in Mexico. It is in the tool, die and mold sector. As with oil and gas, where Mexico is booming, in tool, die and mold, because of the automotive sector, where Mexico is booming, and in mining, there are huge opportunities for Canadian institutions, given our expertise, to provide training in Mexico.
Mr. Rivest: To build on that, there is a shortage of skills in the energy sector as a result of the reforms. There is a shortage of skills in the auto sector. There's a shortage of skills in the aerospace sector. Mexico is looking to address those shortages and that is an opportunity for Canadian educational institutions, whether they be colleges or universities.
Ms. Ramsay: Absolutely.
Senator Dawson: On the question of focusing on which markets to attack, sometimes, the government leads on foreign investment, sometimes the government follows. I want to ask Mr. Rivest, in particular: When you see that a group like Cirque du Soleil has already invested millions of dollars on a show in Mexico and has now announced, one or two or three weeks ago, that they are putting up a second investment with a Mexican group, sometimes it is important to follow.
[Translation]
If Cirque du Soleil has decided that the Mexican market is an opportunity for investment, I wonder whether, in our case and for our study, we should consider the need to support investor groups from Quebec and Canada if Mexico is on their list of priorities and whether we should take the lead or sometimes follow suit.
Mr. Rivest: Yes, indeed, Cirque du Soleil has invested a lot in Mexico. There are also other groups, like Cavalia, that are here now and will come to Mexico in upcoming weeks. I am not sure I quite understand your question. This sector definitely has a lot of potential in Mexico; Cirque du Soleil realized it, and so did Cavalia.
Other groups are coming to Mexico to take advantage of the market. There is a great deal of investment in tourism; 1.6 million Canadians come to Mexico, and so do other tourists. Tourism is growing in Mexico, which is in the process of developing the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. There is medical tourism and historical tourism, as well as adventure tourism, which is only just being discovered and provides a lot of opportunities for Canadian companies. In addition to Cirque du Soleil, there are Canadian hotels, airlines, of course, which are very successful in Mexico, travel agencies and restaurants. There is a great deal of potential. The companies that see the potential are very successful. The problem is that Canadian entrepreneurs are still not familiar with Mexico. I am obviously generalizing, because a lot of them are already in Mexico.
Senator Dawson: My comment was also intended to show that, if private companies have the wisdom to focus their investments in Mexico, perhaps we should follow suit as we prepare our report; sometimes, we need to be at the head of the parade. Accordingly, we could learn from private investors who see Mexico as a source of opportunity, and come forward as a partner, helping Canadians understand that there are opportunities in Mexico. The government, our report and the recommendations that follow should support this instinct to invest in Mexico.
Earlier, Ms. Ramsay talked about India and China, but we have a neighbour, not very far away, that may be more accessible to our 1.6 million tourists.
Madam Chair, we feel that the purpose of the study is to make the government see where the opportunities are. People in the private sector are able to do the math and see Mexico as an opportunity. If Canadians are able to determine that Mexico is an opportunity, we should back them up.
[English]
The Chair: Thank you very much for appearing before us this afternoon. It is extremely helpful. We have heard from many academics from political policy personnel. It is good to get your feedback as those who implement the policy and represent Canada abroad. We thank you for your work on behalf of Canada and in particular, Ms. Ramsay, Ontario.
It was very helpful. I hope that you will see some of your comments in our report.
Senators, we are going to adjourn at this time and reconvene tomorrow at 10:30. We have one panel so I anticipate an hour, more or less, and you can judge your time accordingly. The meeting is now adjourned.
(The committee adjourned.)