Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this closing debate on the bill dealing with manganese-based additives.
It is important to clearly understand the objectives of this bill. Manganese is one of the elements found in MMT, which is added to gasoline. The bill seeks to ensure that manganese can no longer be added to gasoline.
When we hear names of chemical products like this one, our initial reaction is often that we must absolutely eliminate all dangerous elements. In this particular case, the government originally had three arguments to support its bill.
First, it claimed that MMT was a threat to health. However, this argument was rebutted by Health Canada and is no longer valid.
Second, the government said manganese was also harmful to the anti-pollution systems in automobiles. This claim is no longer valid either, since it was contradicted by the ruling of a U.S. court. Indeed, the same issue surfaced in the United States and, following a court ruling, it was realized there was no evidence supporting the claim that manganese was dangerous.
The third claim, which is the really trickiest one, is that the bill to prohibit manganese would help harmonize our policies with those of the Americans. In fact, it will have precisely the opposite effect.
The manganese currently found in gasoline is produced by Ethyl, a U.S.-based corporation which, following the introduction of this bill, instituted proceedings against the Government of Canada, something which could end up costing close to $300 million to the Canadian government, under specific NAFTA provisions. As you know, NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement that binds Canada, the United States and Mexico.
So, the Government of Canada knows that, by passing this bill, it will put itself in a difficult position, given this court action, which is definitely not frivolous in nature. This is an action being brought under NAFTA sections 1110, 1106 and 1102 and, moreover, supported by a letter from this Liberal government's international trade minister to the environment minister advising that it would be better not to follow through with this legislation because the action against us is very risky. Odds are that we lose in the end.
It is obvious that if Parliament does pass this bill, that would amount to deciding to invest that sum of money and this would lead to expenditures that could have been avoided. These are mistakes the government should not make.
I do not think that we are in a position to pour $300 million down the drain, saying odds are that we will lose but that we are going ahead, nevertheless. Why? Why, when the argument that this threatens health has been refuted by Health Canada, when the argument about the antipollution systems has been dismissed by an U.S. court ruling on the issue, and when it has been established that there is no danger for pollution control equipment.
Instead, we will have a legislation which will aggravate the relationships between Canada and the United States. Why then is the government still going ahead with this legislation?
The answer is an old answer in Canada, it has been there for a very long time. This government has a strong majority from Ontario, and its aim is to foster the economic development of that province at the expense of the six other provincial governments, including Quebec National Assembly, which has unanimously called for the postponement of this bill.
The ministers involved, the Deputy Prime Minister and the present environment minister, are all from Ontario, and they have decided, come hell or high water, to have the government endorse that view even if it is not a good bill for all Canadians. It is a bad bill, because it is going to poison relations between Canada and the United States.
In the context of NAFTA, when countries have to negotiate, there is always give and take. When our case is not good, as with this bill on MMT, we have to give the Americans something in exchange.
Proceedings could be initiated against us, and we would perhaps have something to pay if the American company maintains that Canada is in breach of NAFTA. We will have to pay that money and give something in exchange to the Americans. What will be the target of these concessions? Will it be like in the softwood issue? Will we lose as much in another area? All in all, the present government is not acting responsibly in pushing this bill through.
All the arguments have been presented. They have been repeated in the House, and they have been made by the six provinces that condemn this bill. Unfortunately, there is a huge representation of Liberals from Ontario, who ensure that the interests of the province take precedence over the interests of the whole country. That also creates environmental concerns.
It is important to realize that banning manganese would increase the emissions of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere by 5 to 20 per cent. This is being avoided thanks to the presence of manganese in MMT, but if we ban this substance, there will be a significant increase.
There is something else that defies all logic; this bill will create a lot of problems throughout the years. The government has decided to go ahead with this bill even if there is no health hazard, even if it does not improve anti-pollution systems, even if it could cause trouble with the United States, even if it could cause environmental problems, because the Ontario Liberal majority has managed to impose their position on their caucus.
In conclusion, we have before us a bill which, at first glance, did not seem to create any problems, but upon closer examination, we have come to realize that the Government of Canada, the Parliament of Canada, would, by passing this bill, make a decision that would undermine the Canadian economy and cost taxpayers a lot of money.
The next time the people will be asked to tighten their belts for cuts in UI benefits, we will have yet another example of $100 million, $150 million, $200 million, $300 million, we do not know how much for sure, spent on legal opinions. We have received opinions that clearly indicated Canada's position is not very tenable under NAFTA.
For all these reasons, I will again urge the members of this House to vote against this bill, because it is not in the best interests of all Canadians.