Mr. Speaker, I will be brief, first of all because the member for Verchères has explained quite well the theoretical and practical basis of his amendment as well as the need for it.
I find somewhat deplorable that members opposite have completely ignored the public hearings that we held with representatives of different industries. It is as if those public hearings were absolutely useless. I think it is a waste of time. Not only have we wasted time, but if we added up all the consultations that this government has done in the last year, we would probably find that vast sums have been gobbled up practically for nothing since the government always ends up doing what he intended to do anyway.
Members opposite recognize that the amendment is essentially good but they say they would prefer doing it by way of regulations. Let us not forget that regulations do not have the scope of an act; members opposite probably know that as well as we do. Actually, it is probably the reason why they are opposing this amendment to the act.
People often say that they are all for virtue, but such an assertion is not enough to guarantee that virtue will prevail. I think that in a way it applies to anti-dumping. The fact that the Uruguay Round prohibits dumping is not a sufficient guarantee that it will not occur. Therefore Bill C-57 must provide for a means to face the problem when it arises because it will.
We all know that dumping is an unfair trade practice. It can be so harmful to the industry against which it is used that it may make it disappear. In order to avoid such consequences, the GATT agreement prohibits dumping. However, it is incumbent upon the industry victim of dumping to prove that it has suffered a prejudice so serious that its future is threatened.
The amendment we propose defines the factors for determining such prejudice, which is not provided for in this bill. In the absence of guidelines, the injured industry would be unable to present its case in an appropriate way. Nevertheless, the United States could be used as a model in that regard. Therefore I invite the government to support the amendment.