Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words regarding Bill C-102.
At a time when too many Canadians are out of work, too many Canadians are underemployed and too many Canadians who are employed find it a struggle to make ends meet as a result of low paying jobs and so on, in the service sector particularly, Bill C-102 is a step which will facilitate expansion in the manufacturing sector. It will have a direct bearing on an increase in future jobs. In that sense we see there is an upside to this legislation which will be helpful to people from coast to coast.
I was pleased to find that Bill C-102 enables customs officers to spend more time with clients. This is much needed. A constituent of mine, Tony Walters, was visiting in the American southwest not long ago and when he came across the border into Canada he indicated to the customs officer he had bought himself a pair of riding boots made of armadillo skin. The customs officer said he would have to keep the boots and examine them. My friend asked if there were any problems. The officer said he did not think so but that he had to confiscate the boots, which he did.
Nothing happened. My friend some weeks later inquired and the officer said: "We notice there are armadillo skins on these boots and we think they might be an endangered species in the future". My friend said: "Fair enough, but at the moment they are not an endangered species and there is no reason I cannot collect my riding boots". He said: "You will have to wait and check with the minister".
I checked with the Minister of National Revenue, who is responsible for customs, and told him of the plight of my constituent. The minister said he would look into it but unfortunately that is the last I have heard of it.
I did receive a call from my constituent who informed me he had received a letter from Canada Customs saying it had burned the boots. My friend was not pleased. He felt they were legitimate riding boots, a legitimate import. They cost him a couple of hundred dollars and they had been burned by Canada Customs. He felt he was due some compensation. It seemed to me he was right in that assumption. Perhaps the Minister of National Revenue is out there listening and will once again address this matter. As I said, unfortunately I did not hear anything back from him once I brought it to his attention.
Bill C-102 moves us in an encouraging direction by eliminating more than 1,500 manufacturing input tariffs. It will be good for the expansion sector. However, what has driven this bill is the NAFTA. This will bring our tariff schedules in line with American manufacturers in an effort to obtain a more harmonious or level playing field in the manufacturing sector between Canada and the United States. We have had the NAFTA debate and it is over.
I will register a concern which I, my party and increasing numbers of Canadians have. I do not want to say anything against our American friends but is it wise for an exporting country to put so many of its eggs in one trade basket, to link itself so inextricably, intensely and extensively with one country?
I think we can all acknowledge that now for all intents and purposes economically speaking we are the equivalent of an additional U.S. state or territory. Our economy and the economy of the United States is inextricably connected. That makes us very vulnerable to economic occurrences in the United States. If its economy starts to falter the ramifications will ripple through our economy within minutes.
I know many members of the House are enthusiastic supporters of the NAFTA and what that means and that we are now nothing more than an economic extension of the United States.
In our long term best interest as a country is it to our economic advantage to put all of these trade eggs in one basket? Will our children and grandchildren benefit from this initiative? I do not think so and I raise that as an extension of the debate on Bill C-102.
On balance we support this legislation. I particularly like the idea that the duty exemptions for travellers have been increased. As I recall, the last increase was in the early eighties. Now travellers will be able to bring in goods duty free to reflect these changing times. I still think they are too small. However, it is a step in the right direction.
My friend from Calgary Centre raised the point that one of the motives behind this legislation is to bring our tax regime in Canada more closely in line with that of the United States. He expanded to say it would not only be in terms of tariffs and so on but also our corporate and individual taxation systems.
He mentioned theirs was somewhat lower than ours in Canada. I noticed the Minister of Health is here. One reason our tax system is somewhat higher than in the United States is a reflection of some of the benefits we obtain because of our tax system.
I had the good fortune two years ago to spend time on a formal visit to the United States. Part of that visit included a visit with an American family every evening to talk about life as it saw it and to provide an opportunity for it to meet a Canadian to hear about what life in Canada is all about.
One of the questions I asked every evening for 28 days in succession concerned what that family paid for health care, what the cost for that family was. In every case the cost of health care, not to the same extent we have in Canada but at least close to it, varied between $5,000 and $7,000 per family. That is what it cost them out of their pockets each year. That was a system through
which all sorts of medical services were deductible. If someone had their tonsils out they might have to pay a $500 deductible.
While we discuss taxation-goodness knows we are doing it today and I suspect we will be doing it for many weeks beyond this-as we work to compare the tax regimes of the United States and Canada we should always keep in mind the relative benefits citizens in each country receive as a result of those tax regimes.
(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time and referred to a committee.)