Mr. Speaker, I also would like to speak on motion No. 3 and point out that the Bloc Quebecois will vote against the motion presented by our colleague from the New Democratic Party, not because we are opposed to its subject matter, on the contrary. A number of principles contained in the motion are quite laudable and we are in total agreement with them.
Obviously, it goes without saying that we support the protection of human or animal life, the protection of the environment and worker safety.
We are also in total agreement with clause 8(2) which deals with the application of the agreement to the laws of the provinces and territories in Canada.
We are opposed to this proposed amendment, and regrettably so, because we in the Bloc Quebecois have also been faced with having a similar amendment rejected by the government. During the clause by clause study of the bill, we attempted to present two amendment proposals to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, but we eventually withdrew them. With our proposed amendments, we wanted to make the implementation of the agreement conditional on a number of points. There were a few problems, consequently we withdrew our proposals and worded the amendments differently so as not to make the approval of the agreement conditional.
The amendment presented by the New Democratic Party makes the approval of the agreement conditional on a number of things. Obviously, for our part, we would see no problem in making it conditional on the protection of human or animal life, the protection of the environment or worker safety.
Rather, the problem is that the approval of the agreement is made conditional. It means that we are willing to renege on the word given on the international scene, which will not necessarily endear us to our trading partners. On the other hand, clause 8(6) states: "No law of Canada may be declared invalid on the ground that the law or its application or enforcement in a particular circumstance is inconsistent with any provision of the Agreement".
The effect of this provision of the proposed amendment is to render Bill C-57 completely null and void. This is basically why we are opposed to this amendment.
I say it again, we are doing so with great regret since the underlying principles are laudable and we are in total agreement with them. We will have to vote against this amendment and we most sincerely regret it.