Bill C-13 comes before the House at a time of concern about global tensions in our trading relationships. Let us be clear that Canada is and always will remain a great trading nation. Trade is the foundation of every strong economy in history, and trade with the United Kingdom is a long and deep part of Canadian history.
The Leader of the Opposition spoke about this just recently when speaking to British audiences about the potential to strengthen our relationship as allies. That does not mean that we, as a nation, should ever roll over for any agreement. Ultimately, we want to ensure that free trade is reciprocal. That is to say that it is fair. If we are going to give access to Canadian markets, then we need to see access to the other nation's markets in return.
Free trade and fair trade are not in conflict. They are in partnership, or they should be. Bill C-13 should have been a moment for Canada to show strength and strategic thinking on the world stage amid turmoil. Instead, it is another example of a government that consistently leaves Canadians with less than they deserve.
Let us be clear: The United Kingdom joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is not the issue. The problem is how little the government managed to secure for Canadians during those negotiations. When a country like the United Kingdom wants to join a major trade pact with Canada, that is leverage. That is leverage to get more of our products to market and to bring more products that we cannot produce in Canada to Canadians. This point of negotiation is when responsible governments push hard for their own workers, exporters and seniors. However, once again, the Liberals have negotiated a win for someone on the other side of the table when there was much room to secure one for us.
For the last decade, the government has acted as though it is unbothered by the severe trade imbalances with the U.K. British beef enters Canada duty-free and without limits. According to the Library of Parliament, Britain exported 28.3 million dollars' worth of beef and 3.6 million dollars' worth of pork to Canada in the first half of 2025 alone. Meanwhile, Canada's beef and pork are forced into tight quotas and face trade barriers. Canada exported only 122,000 dollars' worth of pork and no beef in 2025.
The U.K. still refuses to accept Canada's meat hygiene system, even though it is internationally recognized and it has provided no scientific evidence against it. This was a perfect moment to fix that. The U.K. wanted CPTPP membership. Canada could have insisted on fair treatment for our beef and pork exporters. Instead, nothing changed. The same barriers remain. The same inequities remain. Why did the government not secure real improvements for Canadian producers? It had the leverage, it had the time and it had the opportunity. What the government did not have was the political will to fight for all Canadian interests.
I would also like to mention the thousands of U.K. pensioners living in Canada, including many in British Columbia, whose pensions remain frozen with no cost-of-living increases, no indexing and no adjustments whatsoever.
These are not all permanent residents. Many became the best thing a person can be: They became Canadian. Still, these seniors paid into the system. They worked in the U.K. They built lives in British Columbia and across Canada, yet they are treated unfairly compared to pensioners who seek benefits from other countries. This, too, could have been addressed at the table while the U.K. sought to join the CPTPP. Instead, there was silence, another missed opportunity. Given the Prime Minister's frequent boasting of a close relationship with the U.K. Prime Minister and with the United Kingdom as a whole, one would think that he would have talked about this.
The Liberal government might have used this opportunity to advocate on behalf of our agricultural producers or the 100,000 U.K. pensioners during this cost of living and inflation crisis. This is a negotiating pattern with the government. The Liberals have a talent for walking into major trade discussions and walking out empty-handed. Whether it is softwood lumber, steel or aluminum, the result is always the same. Canada gives but gets very little back.
Softwood lumber is key in my riding, as many members know. Hundreds of jobs have already been lost in my riding during these tumultuous times. This is the opposite of negotiation. We are supposed to give something to get something. Families who rely on lumber jobs in my region have now seen an entire year of the Liberal Prime Minister's travels. He has travelled frequently to the United States and around the globe, promising deals but still not delivering for lumber.
Time is not on our side in the lumber sector. At a time of unrelenting attacks from the Trump administration on our softwood lumber industry through unjustified tariffs, sawmills are closing and communities are losing hope. The Liberal government offers a minuscule increase in domestic production and offers loans that will only be added to increasingly indebted lumber mills, which is why many are choosing to close instead. European lumber suppliers are trying to fill the gap in the U.S. market left by these tariffs. Potential Asian markets cannot cover this hole in the balance sheet for Canadian suppliers. A U.K. market would not fill this either.
Canada's lumber industry has the supply, talent and drive to thrive for decades, but only if these communities can stay together. I implore the Prime Minister and his government to work with forest communities, and with the MPs who represent them across all parties, to make an all-hands-on-deck effort in Washington, D.C., to end the decade-long absence of a softwood lumber agreement that has now lasted four separate presidential administrations, all on the Liberals' watch. We know this is possible. The Harper government secured a deal in only a few weeks. Families in my riding, in the Similkameen, Boundary and the Kootenays, cannot wait any longer.
Is what the House is looking for in any trade agreement not ultimately Canadian-specific gains? Where is the progress on the issues that matter to our exporters? Where is evidence that the government used this moment to deliver wins for Canadians?
This could have been the moment the government stood firmly for Canadian farmers and demanded the U.K. finally dismantle the non-tariff SPS barriers that block our products. It could have been the moment it stood up for seniors whose pensions have been frozen for decades. It could have been the moment Canada reminded the world that our market access is valuable and not something that is handed out for free.
Instead, we are left with a bill that updates legislation, cleans up tariff schedules and confirms access the U.K. would have received anyway, all without resolving the issues that matter most. It is very disappointing.
