Thread by @johnsonthree

Hello from Senate foreign affairs committee where @cafreeland is appearing. She is here for an hour and joined by department officials, including Steve Verheul who was Canada's Chief NAFTA negotiator. #cdnag #cdnpoli

Freeland starts by commending Mark Gwozdecky who is retiring from GAC.

Freeland says rules based trade doesn't guarantee peaceful trade but it certainly helps.

on NAFTA Canada held out for a good deal and we got one, she says, and maintained access to Canada's largest market.

Freeland on 232 tarifs: "Canada is fighting hard for these tariffs to be lifted." She says she is pleased to see the cross-party and cross-industry push on the US to get the tariffs lifted.

Ukraine's ambassador is here for Freeland's testimony. She is currently talking about Crimea.

She is headed to Santiago next week where the situation in Venezuela is up for discussion.

The bells are ringing. Not sure if there is a vote or not.

Freeland also mentions the situation of Rohingya refugees and the situation in Myanmar.

Freeland mentions the Chinese situation involving the two Canadians detained and the Canadian who has been put on death row. Freeland says she has spoken directly with all the affected families.

She lists the countries who have offered they're support.

She says the Canadian detentions were raised at the NATO meeting in Washington last week as well as the G7 meeting.

No mention of the current canola dispute in Min. Freeland's remarks.

Sen. Housakas mentions the concerns raised by the OECD in the context of the SNC Lavalin case. What steps have you taken to ensure that the world knows Canada is a strong defender of the rule of law.

She says she has spoken with the chair of the OECD working group.

The fact that Canada is having a lively debate shows that our democracy is robust. We must keep this in mind when we are speaking with countries that are run by dictators.

Canadian detention must be raised with the Chinese and kept in the world spotlight. "It is important for us to bear in mind the role that China plays in the world economy and global trade." There are also very deep personal connections with China within Canada.

Next question is about Brexit. What advice is Canada giving to enterprises who want to further develop links with Britain and graduate students who want to go to the UK to study, collaborations on research etc. Senator fears those might be in peril.

Canada has a unique free trade agreement with the UK through CETA. She says the department has been working on the Brexit transition front. There is "tremendous goodwill" both in Canada and Britain to maintain close ties. Moving target. EU ties are "extremely close."

Priority for Canada is also to maintain its relationship with the EU. She compares it to when two really good friends are married and decided to get divorced. Canada wants to stay really good friends with both of them.

Next question is about China. He says we've learnt a few lessons about China is in the past six months. What are we doing with the uncertainty in the world right now, what with the United States, China etc. What's Canada's strategy.

Canadians have a lot of experience with negotiations, particularly when they deal with trade, she says. "I think, certainly at our officials level, we know how we can optimize a situation. It's an important thing and and important element for Canada."

She's speaking in French, so I'm translating. She says Canada is really trying to build coalitions in the world. We can do more with allies. LIMA group is one example, CPTPP Is another. Paris accord. We continue to work together.

Next question is about electoral interference. Is the G7 mechanism working and is everyone participating?

Rapid response mechanism was a really good idea. "I think all of us knew last year that we needed to get better at dealing ...with interference in our own countries."

She says there was very strong support at the G7 amongst all countries.

Freeland: Foreign Interference in our democracy "is already here." She references the Ukrainian ambassador again, who is here, and mentions how Ukraine has been grappling with the same issue. "Ukraine is Russia's laboratory," she said, Canada is learning from their experience.

Next question is about Chinese pressure on Chinese immigrants to Canada. Sen. Nault wants to know what Canada is doing to protect the community in Canada.

Freeland says Canada is monitoring the situation. They are paying particularly attention to any potential pressure that is happening on Canadian campuses. University groups can be particularly targeted, she says.

Next question is from Sen. Dean. He wants to know what are the top two or three threats in the rule based society.

She says the biggest threat is at home, when people lose faith in ourselves. If we ourselves lose faith in liberal democracy and in the idea that it works.

Canadians need to feel comfortable and secure, including economic security. They need to feel that their children will have a better life then they did, they can retire, they can study and get a good job. Families with children need to feel supported.

Countries where the middle class has been hollowed out are the ones where their democracies have faced threats. Cynicism also doesn't help, she say.

It is so important for us not to give into that kind of cynicism. Democracies are vulnerable to "what about" isms. Our debates, our divisions, our flaws, are revealed much more than in our dictatorship. But we can't let that debate bring us down.

Next question is about white supremacy, which Freeland absolutely believes there is a special responsibility to stand up and denounce these attacks, particularly in a country where the majority of the pop is white and christian.

Nault is going back to his question about Chinese pressure on immigrants. What are the specific steps. Should we take a stronger approach with China, like the approach we took with Russia?

"Our particularly approach towards Russia is connected to some very specific, very serious breeches of the rules based international order," she says. Crimea invasion broke that relationship. Borders may not be altered by force, she says.

It's been five years since the Crimea invasion occurred. This was something that was discussed among foreign leaders and there was a very clear understanding among leaders ... that that is not something that can go unanswered.

"It is no small thing that the detention of these Canadians was discussed at NATO and the G7," she says.

It is also a "reality" that China is the second largest economy. That reality is reflected in the trade talks between China and US, China and the EU.

Canada has deep ties to China. "Certainly these are very difficult times in our relationship with China and we are very clear on that."

She has not mentioned the canola dispute.

We need to be "creative" and one of the ways we can do that is to find alliances with other countries, which applies to how Canada deals with China, too.

Canada is a small country on the world stage. We are very reliant on a rules-based environment, a senator says. But then you look at what happens at the WTO where countries don't follow rules. How do you see this going forward? Freeland doesn't want make any predictions.

I am optimistic, Freeland says. I think even for the big countries a line will be drawn where they will see that rules-based environment will be in their best interest. (She's speaking French. I'm translating.)

Adreychuk asking a question. "There comes a point to act." She then mention the canola crisis, "which is hitting."

We are thinking we had allies and finding out we don't have the same allies.

Freeland says Andreychuk was right that the 2008 situation with Georgia was a warning sign. Collectively the West failed on Georgia. Andreychuk says the same warnings were being issued about Venezuela. It took too long for the countries to respond to the crisis.