Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me here today. I'm looking forward to discussing with you Export Development Canada's contribution to the 2023 Public Accounts of Canada, one of the government's key accountability documents. For those less familiar, Export Development Canada is a Crown corporation that operates with a mandate to support and grow the country's export trade.

International Trade committee  I would like to add to that. Once the companies in Japan know about Canada and are willing to invest in Canada, we have to broaden that. We have to help Canadian companies get into their supply chains. We have to make more Japanese companies interested in what Canadian capabilities look like.

International Trade committee  Thank you. One of the biggest forums is webinars and, of course, the website, because everybody wants digital, and they want to access the resources 24-7. We've been structured to make those resources available to people when they need them. Just last week, we had a webinar with over 2,000 people on how to get started on exporting.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. I'm really excited, actually, by this question. I think that at EDC there was a perception over a number of years, because we kept talking about EDC and the products that it provides. We provide insurance to help make sure people get paid for the exports they make.

International Trade committee  I think it's really important to address your point about the competition. One of the things at EDC that we're very clear about is working with other ECAs and with the Department of Finance at the OECD level to ensure that there is a level playing field for our Canadian companies.

International Trade committee  Madam Chair, I'll provide the answer for EDC. It really starts with talking to the companies and ensuring they understand that the items you referenced can actually impact their long-term sustainability. It starts with the education of our Canadian companies and providing them the tools so they can understand the risks they might be getting into, whether that is providing them information on how to consider forced labour or child labour in supply chains, or giving them the tools to assess that.

International Trade committee  Absolutely, Madam Chair. There are a few things that are very interesting to Canadian exporters. One is the presence on the ground, which gives them the visibility and the understanding of how business is done in those markets. The trade commissioner is a very important presence on the ground.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps I can split my answer into two, and certainly Stuart can add some more details. In terms of our exports today, they continue to be driven by energy, commodities—particularly agricultural commodities—metals, etc. Those are some of our big exporting sectors, including transportation.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely. Energy refers to oil, gas and other forms, biofuels, etc.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to thank the committee members for inviting me to take part in this important study today. As president and CEO of EDC, I'm eager to discuss with you the work we do to support Canadian businesses in supply chains and international markets. I look forward to sharing data and insights on the context and the conditions in which Canadian businesses are operating.

Government Operations committee  Thank you. We are currently participating in five audits of the McKinsey contracts. One has been completed, which I understand was the PSPC contract. We had no audit findings of that. Our chief internal auditor is participating in all of the audits to ensure that, if there are any findings, we would incorporate them into any management action plan.

Government Operations committee  No direction was provided to me.

Environment committee  I would say that two things really came out. One is that there has been a withdrawal of support for the industry, and particularly the industry in Canada. One of your fellow committee members noted the situation vis-à-vis the U.S. and the withdrawal. We have seen a withdrawal of financial support for the industry itself.

Environment committee  I think there are a few root causes for that one. Sometimes it could be linked to the technology and that the technology is more new or not as well tested. You see that a lot in the clean technology space. Then, it's actually introducing it into larger producers. Early adoption of technology isn't something that the market necessarily does, either the financial market or the companies themselves, so that's one of the reasons why you see that.

Environment committee  It's something that we continuously monitor. We do have an economics team at EDC that are monitoring Canadian export trends, as well as continuing to update themselves on the 196 countries we support around the world. They are continually watching that. We don't necessarily get involved in the pricing of oil other than to understand the trends and what those might mean for the portfolio and the level of support provided to the industry overall from commercial banking partners, because that plays a significant role in the support of commercial players.