Bill C-2 (Historical)

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia

This enactment implements the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreements on the environment and labour cooperation entered into between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and signed at Lima, Peru on November 21, 2008.
The general provisions of the enactment specify that no recourse may be taken on the basis of the provisions of Part 1 of the enactment or any order made under that Part, or the provisions of the Free Trade Agreement or the related agreements themselves, without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.
Part 1 of the enactment approves the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreements and provides for the payment by Canada of its share of the expenditures associated with the operation of the institutional aspects of the Free Trade Agreement and the power of the Governor in Council to make orders for carrying out the provisions of the enactment.
Part 2 of the enactment amends existing laws in order to bring them into conformity with Canada’s obligations under the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreement on labour cooperation.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Madam Speaker, I mentioned something in my speech was about Peru and Chile, and I think my colleague would concur with me. We have established comprehensive trade agreements there and in other nations around the world. We need to point to that to see it is not just an issue of trade deficits and improving the economy, but also one of social responsibility.

One thing I really like about this are the side accords about labour. An issue we have in our country is workers' compensation. Workers' compensation principles are now improving around the world, thanks in part because of these trade agreements. He talked about the crime aspect. There is no doubt about that. In rural areas, when they disband these military groups, they reform, regroup and end up in major urban centres.

Once again, that exacerbates a situation where people just do not have options. Well over half of the people there are not involved in the legal economy. It is not because they do not want to be, it is because they do not have that choice. This is not entirely perfect, but it is certainly a positive step ahead for these people to get ahead and join in with the rest of the world to improve the standard of living.

[Bruce Hyer, NDP, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I cannot believe what I am hearing from the Conservatives and Liberals today. They readily admit that Colombia is a disaster in human rights, with a drug trade and lax environmental regulations. Their logic seems to be that the more problems a country has, the better it is to conclude a trade deal with it.

However, Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world. Ten percent of the world's species are in the forests there. There are over 1,800 birds, over 600 amphibians and over 400 mammals. The list goes on and yet deforestation has displaced four million people, according to the UN, and 50,000 hectares of deforestation have displaced 300,000 people just in 2007.

How can the Liberals go along with the Conservatives on this kind of faulty logic?

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Madam Speaker, I want to address the issue. He talks about the disaster there and gives the impression that it is becoming increasingly worse as they digress. Numbers point out that the rate of unionist homicides in Colombia between 1995 and 2008 has decreased dramatically. Basically, per 100,000 inhabitants, it was at 25 to 30 above that at the peak of 1996 and down to less than half that in 2008.

Again, it is not a perfect situation for a trade partner to be in, but it certainly has improved over the past while. Canadians have gone a long way in providing the world with decent policies surrounding biodiversity and we continue to do so. Why would we not want to engage Colombia in a conversation to do much of the same when it, too, has the renewable resources that it desires so much and that we can contribute to help save the very asset about which he talked?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to talk about the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement, an agreement that is part of our aggressive free trade agenda at a time when Canadians need it most.

Since 2006, our government has continued to expand Canada's trade network around the world. We have begun discussions for trade agreements with the European Union and India. We have completed free trade agreements with the European Trade Association, Peru, Jordan and Panama. We have completed our free trade agreement with Colombia as part of our strategy to open doors for Canadians at a time when it is most welcome. The time to implement this agreement is now.

I would like to take this opportunity today to look at our relationship with Colombia through two different lenses, the lens of trade in services and an investment lens.

Let us start with the benefits of this trade agreement to Canadian service providers. From financial services, legal services, engineering and architecture to high technology, the opportunities are there. Canadian service providers already have a substantial presence in the Colombian market. Our service exports to Colombia are in the area of about $80 million to $85 million each year. Driving these numbers are Canadian financial, mining, engineering, petroleum extraction sectors and tourism.

Services sectors like these in Canada stand to benefit greatly from the new free trade agreement. They will be able to enjoy a secure, predictable, transparent and rules-based trading environment. It also gives Canadian service providers an added measure of confidence. They can now plan for the future, knowing that under this agreement, they will be treated the same as Colombian service providers.

Moreover, our two countries have agreed to begin discussions on mutual recognition agreements, starting with engineering, that allow for our standards and qualifications to be recognized in each other's country. This will save service providers in both nations time and money and let them get to work more quickly in each other's market.

For these reasons, our free trade agreement with Colombia provides a great opportunity to take our current trade in services to a new level in the years ahead. Our services sector is an engine of our economy. In total, it is responsible for 71% of our gross domestic product. Development of new market opportunities is our priority. Helping the Colombian government on the trade and investment front is a way to do this. For Canadians during this period of global economic uncertainty, it is important to keep markets open.

The free trade agreement with Colombia will help increase the competitiveness of Canadian exporters at a time when they need it most. The free trade agreement with Colombia will engage rather than isolate Colombia to ensure a brighter future.

These are just some of the factors driving Canadian investment into the Colombian market. Free trade accounts for three in four Canadian jobs. That is why I am so pleased to see that our free trade agreement with Colombia opens up many new doors for Canada's services sector.

We already know that this agreement gives Canadian services providers greater access to the Colombian marketplace than ever before. It is now time to ensure that Canadian service providers can take advantage of the opportunities and remain competitive globally.

I would like to look more closely at what the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement means for Canadian investors. Two-way investment is an absolutely critical driving force in today's economy. Investment links our business to global value chains and to the technology and expertise they need to forge a wide range of commercial links with our partners around the world. That is certainly the case for Canada.

At the end of 2008, Canada was a net provider of foreign direct investment, or FDI, with the overall stock of Canadian FDI valued at approximately $637 billion. The inward stock is impressive as well, with foreign-held direct investment in Canada totalling $509 billion that same year.

Investment with our partners, inward and outward, is enormously important. That is certainly the case with Colombia. The Colombian workforce is highly skilled, qualified and trained, giving global investors, including Canada, more and more confidence in the Canadian marketplace as well as the Colombian marketplace. Thanks to the dedication of the current Colombian government, we see steady improvements in the security and stability of Colombia, to the point where the stock of Canadian investment in Colombia reached over $1 billion in 2008.

We expect this number to continue to grow over the next two years, thanks in great part to Colombia's burgeoning oil and gas and mining sectors and to Colombia's great need for infrastructure.

These are just a few areas where Canada has significant interest and can offer a lot to our Colombian partners going forward. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that our investment relationship with Colombia figured prominently in our free trade negotiations.

For Canadian and Colombian investors alike, the free trade agreement offers an unprecedented level of stability, predictability and protection, one that will help us take our investment relationship to a new level in the years ahead. The agreement establishes a stable legal framework that gives Canadian investors the predictability they need and deserve.

At the same time, strong obligations will ensure the free transfer of investment capital and protect against expropriation. It also gives investors access to transparent, binding and impartial dispute settlement processes. In short, under the free trade agreement, Canadian investors will be treated, with very few exceptions, just as well as Colombian investors.

For Colombian investment in Canada, we have taken steps to ensure that we maintain full policy flexibility in key areas, like health and public education.

From the outset of the global economic downturn, our Prime Minister has been very clear that trade and investment hold the key to helping the world economy recover. That is why our government is continuing to move forward on an aggressive free trade agreement agenda that puts a strong focus on creating new partnerships with key nations around the world.

To create new commercial opportunities around the world, we need to be doing everything we can to open doors for Canadians and to work with our partners to help Canadians succeed. That includes service providers and investors. That is why I ask for all members to show their support for the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement not only on behalf of Colombians but Canadian investors and the Canadian economy.

One thing it is important for me to point out as a rural member of Parliament coming from eastern Alberta is that it is critically important for our beef livestock and pork sectors to have opportunities open up. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has done a tremendous job going around the world opening up new markets for our farmers and investors.

It is, however, difficult when we get these free trade agreements, which our own farmers and constituents say are tremendously important, people like Jurgen Preugschas from my riding, who is the president of the Canadian Pork Council. He came to the agriculture committee and said that they absolutely need this free trade agreement to be ratified and moved forward in the House of Commons. He explicitly looked at the NDP members of Parliament and said that this had to happen. It is free trade agreements like this that will continue to move not only our global economy to recovery but the Canadian agriculture sector to the recovery it needs and to expand and open up markets.

Opposition members often ask how much trade we really do with Colombia. When it comes to pork, it is essential to know the industry and the market and to understand that while these niche markets may not always be huge, they provide a very important market for us to send products that other countries do not necessarily want. They provide added value to our carcasses and farmers and the $1 or $2 extra that it adds on pork means a lot of money in rural Canada.

I know the NDP is predominantly a party of downtown Toronto and downtown Sudbury, but at the end of the day, we need to represent rural Canadians as well and we need to come to this place and get together.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Downtown Toronto? Working class Canadians vote for us.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Obviously, I hit a nerve. I know the member for Burnaby—New Westminster is a strong advocate of human rights, even though he does not appear to hold the same values to Hugo Chavez as he does to Colombians.

I implore members to stop filibustering and move this forward so we can all work in the best interests of our constituents and take into account rural Canadians. These kinds of free trade agreements are tremendously important to them.

I ask all members of the House to support the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have a very quick question.

The member talks about us filibustering, but the biggest filibuster of all was proroguing Parliament, which meant this bill had to start at the beginning. He talks about filibustering. The Conservatives do not even want this bill to go forward. I am not even sure what they are trying to do today.

Would the member like to comment on this?

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Madam Speaker, I do not intend to continue to fight past battles with these members. I came to this place hoping to move forward on important projects, important bills like the Canada free trade agreement. I am happy that this member has not supported the long-gun registry, and I look forward to seeing him continue to support the abolishment of the long-gun registry, just as Liberal members across the way have.

I look forward to our continuing to work together in the best interests of rural Canadians.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased that my Conservative colleague from Alberta talked a bit about the agricultural prospects for Canada and Colombia that are contained within this free trade agreement. I would encourage him to expand a bit more about how important it is that Canada expand its free trade relationships around the world.

As he knows, we have embarked upon a free trade negotiation process with the European Union. We have already signed an agreement with the European Free Trade Association. We are negotiating with many other countries around the world to ensure that we have a diversity of trading relationships so we are not as dependent on the United States as we have been in the past.

I would encourage him to expand a bit on that and to also expand on the impact this agreement and other trade agreements would have on the agricultural industry, especially in his province of Alberta.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Madam Speaker, being a member of the agriculture committee, I have seen the member constantly strive to fight for agriculture in Canada, particularly the agriculture in his area. He has always been a strong proponent.

He is absolutely right. We need to continue to try to move forward on free trade agreements, bilateral free trade agreements. The European Union is tremendously important. Once again, I will go back to pork. This is an industry that has been devastated over the last several years. Romania's being included in the European Union has taken away another niche market for our pork industry that is tremendously important to value-adding for our Canadian farmers.

It is the same as Colombia. Not only would this free trade agreement with Colombia give us a niche market that is important to our farmers but it would also raise human rights standards for Colombian farmers. It would also allow them to interact on a more global basis with us in an exchange of ideas and information that would better their farming techniques.

It is important that we do not become an isolationist country when it comes to free trade and that we continue to expand that around the world.

[Jim Maloway, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member should be aware that there is an election process going on in Colombia right now and that just recently a group of international election observers returned and detailed a report of some very bad things going on in Colombia; for example, vote buying and selling, misuse of identity documents, illegal possession of identity documents, including stolen documents, coercion and intimidation of voters, fraud committed by polling officers, and on and on.

The question is: When does this member think things are going to improve in Colombia? If we sign a free trade deal with Colombia, are things going to just turn around and Colombia is going to become a model partner in a free trade agreement? That is absolute nonsense, and he should know that.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have already outlined the benefits to Colombians and the Canadian economy.

However, I would like to let the member from Manitoba know that there are bad things happening right here in this country, right here in Manitoba. Our farmers in Manitoba are having a tough time in the pork industry. They are concerned about where they are going to get their next meal from. They are concerned about what is going to happen on their farms and where they are going trade to. They are losing markets in the United States. They are losing markets with country of origin labelling. They want to know what the government and their members from Manitoba are doing for them and that they are standing up for Manitobans, not just coming to this place, worrying about whether or not Colombian farmers are getting a fair shake, but worrying about whether Manitoban farmers and Canadian farmers are getting a fair shake out of these deals.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-2, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia.

First of all, the Bloc Québécois is opposed to Bill C-2. The Canadian government's main motivation for entering into this free trade deal is not trade, but rather investments.

I wish my Conservative colleagues would at least have the courage to tell the truth. Always trying to invent illusions, as the Conservatives do, is most harmful to us as we do our jobs as MPs.

They are trying to pass this off as a trade agreement. The Conservative members spoke of opening up major markets with Colombia. Canada has been negotiating for two years and I have yet to receive a single email from farmers or businesspeople in my riding asking me to sign this free trade agreement with Colombia.

This agreement contains a chapter on investment protection, which would make life easier for Canadian investors, particularly those who invest in the mining sector in Colombia.

The ultimate goal is to provide businesses with access to markets and investments.

We have to be careful because, comparing this investment protection agreement to all the others Canada has signed over the years, the one that would bind Canada and Colombia seems ill conceived. All these agreements contain clauses that enable investors to sue the local government if it takes measures that reduce their return on investment.

These provisions are particularly dangerous in a country where labour and environmental protection laws are uncertain at best. Such an agreement, by protecting a Canadian investor against any improvement in the living conditions in Colombia, could slow down social and environmental progress in a country that is in great need of such progress.

What Conservative MPs from Quebec and the rest of Canada need to understand is that people will not stand for our Canadian companies investing in a country where they do not meticulously observe labour laws, respect human rights and protect the environment.

I know that this is extremely hard to swallow for Conservative members from the west whose hands are full with the oil sands development, but the vast majority of Quebeckers and Canadians will not stand for the Canadian government allowing Canadian companies to invest in countries like Colombia without respecting human rights and protecting the environment.

Colombia has one of the worst track records in the world, and certainly in Latin America, when it comes to human rights. That is where the problem lies. The government wants to allow companies to invest in a country that does not respect human rights.

In order to promote human rights in the world, governments usually use the carrot and stick approach. If we want to promote human rights in Colombia, and if they absolutely want to do business with us, then we have to be able to tell them that they must first improve their human rights record.

They support efforts to ensure greater respect for human rights and reserve the right to cut off those benefits if things go back to the way they were.

If Canada signs this free trade agreement, it will relinquish its power to exert pressure. Not only will it give up the option of using the carrot and the stick, it will be handing that power to the Colombian government. That is why we said this was a bad deal. It is a bad, ill-conceived free trade agreement that eliminates the Canadian government's power to force Colombia to improve its workers' quality of life, human rights and environmental rights.

The government keeps saying that it has included side agreements on labour and the environment in the free trade agreement. But such side agreements are manifestly ineffective. They are not part of the free trade agreement, so investors are free to destroy the rich Colombian environment, displace people to set up mining operations and keep murdering trade unionists with impunity. That is what is going on now.

Our Conservative colleagues are trying to lull us into submission by telling us that it is a good agreement, but there are no provisions concerning human rights and environmental protection in the agreement, even though they should have been. The Conservatives talk about the side agreements, but they are not part of the main agreement, so companies are not required to comply with them.

The Bloc Québécois does not agree that the government should exchange its ability to exert pressure to ensure respect for human rights against the privilege for Canadian companies to make foreign investments.

The Bloc Québécois is in touch with the people. If they knew about this, Quebeckers and Canadians would never agree to investments that compromise human rights. Once again, the Conservative caucus is trying to make us accept this. We are being gagged. On Friday, the Conservatives decided to limit the time for debate on this agreement. The government wants to force all parliamentarians, all Quebeckers and all Canadians to accept this terrible free trade agreement.

In December 2009, this bill was debated at second reading before being set aside when Parliament was prorogued. I asked the minister who gagged our debate why, if it was so important to the Conservatives, the government prorogued the House and ended the debate just before the holidays. By proroguing the House, they decided to end the debate.

We think that it was, once again, to please investors close to the Conservative Party. That is the harsh reality. It is a party that acts out of political interest. The Prime Minister acted out of political interest when he prorogued the House. He is again acting out of political interest and also to help his mining friends, in this case, and the oil companies. It is a question of investments and Colombia's natural resources.

An amendment to an amendment stating that a number of human rights organizations were strongly opposed to the ratification of this agreement was rejected by the Conservative and Liberal parties on October 7, 2009. Once again the opposition parties, both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, agreed on this amendment to the amendment to respect human rights.

The Conservatives and Liberal voted against this amendment to the amendment. The Liberals voted against it for political reasons. For some months now, all the Liberals' actions have been politically motivated. Inevitably, there has been pressure from mining and oil companies to get this free trade agreement signed.

The free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia, signed in 2006, is also stalled because of the human rights issue. Quebeckers and Canadians are not the only ones who oppose the agreement. The people of the United States are also worried about the human rights issue. This agreement should not be ratified by Congress until Colombia strengthens its legislation to protect minimum labour standards and union activities in order to respect human rights and labour rights.

Once again, the Conservatives decided to rush through with this in order to serve the interests of a handful of Canadian investors. The Liberals and the Conservatives are going to ratify this agreement despite the fact that the Americans have decided not to ratify it until Colombian laws change to allow effective union action and ensure minimum standards for working conditions. This will ensure that Canadian companies that employ Colombian workers provide them with decent working conditions and respect labour laws so those employees can work in an environment consistent with our values.

As the members can probably guess, out of respect for human rights and the environment, the Bloc Québécois will be voting against this free trade agreement.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Madam Speaker, I enjoyed the member's speech very much. He has a great deal of experience in the House and has understood what is at stake with this free trade agreement.

All human rights organizations,without exception, are opposed to this agreement. As the member knows very well, even the members of the Standing Committee on International Trade, when they saw what was happening on the ground, stated that it made no sense to go ahead with the agreement without an independent and impartial assessment of its impact.

All human rights organizations and free and independent trade unions are against this agreement. Can the member explain why the Conservatives and the Liberals are prepared to sacrifice the fundamental values of Canadians, who believe that a system must be put in place to protect human rights?

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the NDP member for his question. It is clear that this is an investment agreement. We are sacrificing human rights in Colombia to satisfy a handful of rich individuals who control the mining and oil companies.

As I already said: the Americans were not fooled. They are demanding changes to legislation before they will sign a free trade agreement. Once again, the Conservatives and Liberals will violate these human rights in a country that is in desperate need of having them protected.