Here is a summary of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) meeting on October 20, 2025, which studied the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The witnesses were Barry Appleton, Lana Payne, Vass Bednar, Anna Zalik, Brian Kingston, and Linda Hasenfratz.
Barry Appleton, a trade law expert, argued that Canada is unprepared for the CUSMA review because the U.S. designed the agreement with a sunset clause to maintain leverage. He recommended rebuilding a legislated advisory system with classified access (modernized SAGITs), appointing a trade czar and an innovation czar for a whole-of-government strategy, and legislating a digital sovereignty framework to govern algorithms and data. He disagreed with the notion that Canada is ready, stating the country is playing the "wrong game" and that the rule of law has been replaced by the "rule of whim."
Lana Payne, National President of Unifor, stated that Canada is in an economic war and needs an "economic war room," echoing Appleton's call for coordinated strategy. She highlighted the recent Stellantis announcement to move assembly to the U.S. as a critical blow, arguing that CUSMA is not protecting Canadian industry from Trump's tariffs. She recommended using Canada's leverage in strategic resources like aluminum and potash, and insisted that the government must attach job guarantees to corporate subsidies, noting that the contracts with Stellantis have not been made public.
Vass Bednar, Managing Director of The Canadian SHIELD Institute, focused on "epistemic sovereignty," arguing that CUSMA's digital trade chapter limits Canada's ability to audit algorithms and govern data. She recommended securing clear language in any new agreement to preserve Canada's right to algorithmic transparency and domestic authority over digital infrastructure. She also proposed amending the Income Tax Act to broaden the definition of "permanent establishment" for digital presence and supported rebuilding a modernized SAGIT system for the digital era.
Anna Zalik, a professor at York University, argued against a rushed renegotiation of CUSMA, citing the U.S. administration's unpredictability and the withering of the rule of law. She expressed concern about closed-door energy negotiations, particularly the Keystone XL pipeline, which she said would reduce Canada's options for a green energy transition. She recommended raising the bar on labour and environmental standards across all three countries, extending the rapid response mechanism to Canada and the U.S., and avoiding any agreement that commits Canada to exporting more bitumen or importing U.S. fracked gas.
Brian Kingston, President and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, stated that the top priority must be removing the section 232 tariffs on the automotive industry, which have cost automakers $10.6 billion U.S. this year. He recommended eliminating the federal EV mandate, which he said phases out vehicles made in Canada, and aligning with the U.S. on China by banning certain Chinese-connected vehicle software. He also urged the government to implement policies to make Canada "ultracompetitive" to secure investment.
Linda Hasenfratz, Executive Chair of Linamar Corporation, agreed with Kingston and emphasized that an interim deal to eliminate the 232 tariffs is the absolute top priority, as the tariffs have spread to over 900 product categories. She argued that Canada should negotiate from a position of strength, noting that the U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada and that 36 American states have Canada as their number one customer. She also highlighted that Canadian manufacturing productivity has grown at twice the rate of the U.S. since 2010, and that Linamar's most productive plants are in Canada.
The committee concluded with a motion from MP Naqvi, seconded by MP Chambers and MP Savard-Tremblay, to have the clerk bring forward a plan for six members to travel to Washington, D.C., and Detroit, Michigan, for the CUSMA review study, and to Brasilia, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the study on trade diversification with Mercosur, in 2026.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.