Madam Speaker, this government's foreign policy includes the commitment to create jobs for Canadians through international trade.
From time to time the government grants export credits to other countries in order to promote investment in Canada. This is a very aggressive means of creating Canadian jobs through international trade. Such a bold policy must be carefully monitored.
As Edmund Burke once wrote, "It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact, and great trade will always be attended with considerable abuses". It is the role of government to identify and minimize these abuses. My purpose today is to identify one aspect in the administration of Canada's trade policy that has led to the loss of many valuable Canadian jobs.
Through the Government of Canada Canadian taxpayers gave an export credit in the order of $200 million to Guangdong province during a visit by a delegation to Ottawa in April 1993. In November of 1994 Nortel announced that it had finalized an agreement with Guangdong province to manufacture and install switching equipment in China. The value of the contract was $200 million. The impact of this agreement was swift and devastating. In March of this year Nortel announced that it was laying off 580 Canadians at its Brampton plant, which brings the total number of jobs lost since 1994 at that plant alone to 1,300. At the same time, Nortel announced it would add 3,000 manufacturing jobs to its plant in Guangdong province over the next three years.
I want to be clear that my quarrel is not with Nortel. Although I am not at all happy that 1,300 jobs have been lost in my riding, I recognize that Nortel's concern is ultimately the bottom line. Its present circumstance confirms it is reacting to market conditions, as Canadian sales have declined while export sales have increased dramatically.
A recent issue of "Report on Business" described the countless hours Nortel invested in winning this contract. Even the first challenge faced by Nortel was a difficult one.
After signing a memorandum of understanding in December 1992, Chinese officials became upset that Canadian parliamentarians were expressing their concerns about human rights violations by the Chinese government. Chinese officials threatened to walk away from further negotiations. Nortel responded by telling Chinese officials that they were with Nortel U.S., not Nortel Canada. Having distanced themselves from Canadian parliamentarians, Nortel finalized this deal a little less than two years later.
This is a valuable case study for parliamentarians. It clearly demonstrates that export credits must be accompanied by assurances that jobs are created in Canada rather than in low wage economies. The focus of job creation through international trade must remain fixed on Canada. The government must move swiftly to ensure strong Canadian labour content in export assistance programs. A strong first step would be to reverse the recent reduction in the Export Development Corporation's Canadian labour content requirements.
We made a commitment to Canadians that we will promote job creation through international trade. This is a commitment we must keep.