Jacob Mantle

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to present a petition on behalf of residents in my riding of York—Durham, particularly those from the town of Georgina and the community of Keswick on the south shore of Lake Simcoe, with respect to a new invasive species called water soldier. It was discovered in Lake Simcoe only a short time ago and has been spreading across the lake. It is a physical threat to [more]

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Mr. Speaker, I am rising to follow up on a question I asked theabout the troubling implications for family farms and the ability to pass family farms on to the next generation. For generations, family farms have fed Canadians and the world, and those farms are passed on, with great pride, from one generation to the next. Generally, if a farm is passed from a [more]

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to hearing what the government proposes in the fall. In the last minute I have, I would like to comment on the Speaker's ruling from yesterday. I appreciated the Speaker's ruling but I was deeply disappointed by it. First, on a factual basis, the Speaker indicated in the ruling that there was only supposition that certain members of the government may have had [more]

That's fair. Could you provide the committee with a copy of that targeted list?

It was.

I have to say it's kind of concerning to me that we have five people here from what are supposed to be the responsible departments, yet no one can provide answers or any information on goods that for months have been publicly known to have caused concerns about forced labour. I find that unacceptable. I don't think the CBP in the U.S. shares your view. CBP says: Canada has not taken action to [more]

Thank you.

You mentioned that the list includes entities. Is it solely entities? Does it include goods, regions or countries?

C-35 minister Can you tell me when the first draft of Billwas completed and sent to the's office? Maybe Ms. Wilshaw can respond.

Okay, let's try another one. Last year, the U.S. blocked shipments of bicycles and bicycle parts made by Giant Manufacturing Co., the world's largest bicycle manufacturer. There are two stores that sell Giant bicycles here in Ottawa and several in the Toronto region. Has the CBSA investigated whether those bicycles available for purchase today in Canada were made by forced labour?

Okay, I'll try one more. Two days ago, the U.S. blocked shipments of copper products made at a mine in Serbia by Serbia Zijin Copper because they determined they were being produced by forced labour. It appears from public reporting that those copper products have been exported to Canada. Has the CBSA investigated whether those copper products entering Canada were made with forced labour?

Another concerning aspect of that report is that they say: The Canada Border Services Agency, the agency responsible for enforcing Canada’s forced labor import prohibition, does not appear to publish official statistics or other information regarding its enforcement efforts. Is that true?

If the U.S. can publish the names of companies, the regions of concern and the goods at issue, why can't the CBSA do the same?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to come back to your comments, Ms. Wilshaw, that there's no list that is currently used. Did I understand from your testimony or evidence that there's no list yet?

What has CBSA been using for the last five or six years to inform its enforcement of the import ban?

I mean the targeted list that you say the CBSA uses.

C-35 Would it be fair to say that this list will likely inform whatever proposed list is made or put forward for Bill, or are you going to create a new list from scratch?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to our witnesses for appearing. We appreciate your valuable testimony. I want to start with some questions on enforcement. An import ban sounds good, but if goods come in, it's not really much of a ban, is it? Last year, the U.S. blocked shipments of sea salt products from Taepyung Salt Farm because of concerns they were produced by forced labour. Those goods [more]

It is, yes.