The Committee met on November 29th, 2011 in camera to discuss travel plans for the week of December 3 to December 9th, 2011. The Committee is travelling to Brussels, Belgium, and Paris to meet with officials on the topic of the Comprehensive Trade Agreement with the EU (CETA). Discussions on CETA have been taking place for a number of weeks now with the Committee hearing testimony from a variety of Canadians representing businesses and organizations that will be impacted by a trade agreement with Europe. One of the greatest issues with CETA is the impact on generic versus prescription drugs, where health care officials are saying that the drug costs for Canadians will increase by 2.8 billion dollars each year. On the other hand, CETA will exponentially help small and medium sized businesses in Canada hoping to bring products such as in agriculture, to the European market. You can learn more about this agreement here.
Elizabeth MayMP for Saanich and Gulf Islands