Madam Speaker, first, I know that there is no question or comment period but, since I listened so very carefully, almost religiously, to the speech by the Minister of International Trade, you will still allow me to make some comments on his speech. Maybe he will respond to my comments in a future meeting with yet other comments or answers.
What surprised me the most was that he could not praise enough free trade with the United States, with Asia, and with the whole world as he even went as far as to say. This runs somewhat contrary to Liberal speeches of a few years past, when the Free Trade Agreement was being negotiated with the United States. We are very happy with this about-turn by the Liberal members, who are now all for the superb idea of free trade put forward by what is probably a majority of people from Quebec. We are very happy to see these conversions on the part of our colleagues.
As for job creation, I know that many questions are asked and that a lot of figures are given, but I have a very simple question that Canadians and Quebecers probably also ask themselves. According to the minister, for every million in revenue, thousands of jobs are created each time a free trade agreement is signed or Team Canada goes on a mission. If all these jobs have been created, how come the unemployment rate, which was approximately 10.5 or 11 per cent when they took office, is still 10.5 or 11 per cent today?
Whatever the number of questions of Statistics Canada, the finance minister, the Minister of Human Resources Development or anyone else, if they are that good, how is it that the unemployment rate remains the same? That is another question I ask myself.
But there is another part of his speech that I found. And here I would look in the dictionary for synonyms for the qualities mentioned earlier by my colleague and I would apply them to that part of his speech.
When he said that free trade with Israel would solve practically every problem, would create lots of jobs, and so on, he forgot to mention three relatively important aspects. First of all, political or economic stability did not seem to be a prerequisite for Canada to sign a free trade agreement with Israel. So it is possible to trade and to talk about job creation with a country that does not enjoy complete political and economic stability.
We just have to watch television or read the international section in the newspapers to see that, if it is so good for Canada to sign a free trade deal with Israel in terms of job creation, it does not necessarily mean that political instability makes Quebec's economy unhealthy. If we apply what the minister said to the situation in Quebec, that statement is true.
If the Canadian government is so happy to sign a free trade deal with Israel, a country that does $450 million a year in trade with Canada-and that is the minister's own figure-I think we can assume that it would be all the more happy to sign such a deal with a country that does $250 billion in trade with Canada. So, the Canadian government and the minister, who will hopefully still be there when the time comes, will promote job creation and free trade without saying a word about political or economic stability.
We will certainly keep this part of the minister's speech in mind and maybe one day, during an election or a referendum campaign, we will be able to use it and say: "If it was so good at $450 million, it certainly will not be worse at $200 billion".
Those were the few comments I wanted to make following the speech by the Minister of International Trade.
Now, I can say that we are at last very happy to be able to debate this bill, Bill C-61 on the free trade agreement with Israel. The day has finally come when we have an opportunity to speak to the free trade agreement between our country and Israel. I admit that it gives me great pleasure.
I must, however, point out that the Bloc Quebecois deplores the fact that everything surrounding this agreement has been kept so secret until now. Later on in my speech I will substantiate this.
The Bloc Quebecois will vote in favour of Bill C-61, and enthusiastically welcomes the signing of a Canada-Israel free trade agreement. We hope that this agreement will increase trade with
Israel, and subsequently with all the other countries in the world, as the minister said.
We have always been in favour of the globalization of markets and free trade agreements. This agreement will benefit companies both in Quebec and in Canada, as well as in Israel. Our businesses in Quebec and in Canada need access to foreign markets in order to develop. The signing of a free trade agreement is therefore welcome in the present economic situation. Furthermore, the Export Development Corporation, the EDC, has funds available for Quebec and Canadian companies wishing to do business with the State of Israel.
Although the Bloc Quebecois encourages increased trade between Canada and the State of Israel, because we believe that it can contribute to the peace process and to stability in the region, we call on the Canadian government to ensure that the State of Israel respects fundamental Canadian democratic values and human rights.
In addition, we call on the Liberal government to urge the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to re-establish and maintain peace with the Palestinian people, so as to stabilize the situation in the Middle East.
We suggest to the Canadian government that it not exclude the Palestinians from trade resulting from this agreement. Discussions with Palestinian representatives are therefore necessary in order to look at the possibility of extending the agreement to this territory.
With a population of some six million, the State of Israel, like Quebec, has a democratic system of government, a flourishing private sector and modern financial markets. It has a well developed economy based on high technology. Its main industries are financial services, consumer products, tourism and construction. Its average annual growth rate is 5 per cent, and this, since 1985. Its record year is 1993, when the rate reached 10 per cent; a year later, the rate fell back to 6.8 per cent.
Israel is a door open on the Middle East for Canada, as the minister pointed out sooner. Canada has been among Israel's partners since the country's inception in 1948. In fact, Canada recognized Israel in December 1948. We have been trading with Israel for many years. We began trading with this country as soon as it was created.
Various bilateral committees have been struck these last few years by Canada and Israel. We have, for example, the Canada-Israel Committee, which was formed in 1970 to discuss subjects such as human rights, the money issue; the Canada-Israel Chamber of Commerce; the Canada-Israel Foundation for Industrial Research and Development, which has been in existence since 1994; and, finally, the Canada-Israel Joint Committee, which was established a few years ago to discuss commercial issues of common interest to both countries.
At the present time, our trade with Israel represents between $450 to $500 million a year. Of course, these figures do not compare with those for trade between the United States and Israel, which amounts to $1 billion a day. But with the free trade accord that we are about to approve, we can hope for a significant increase of our trade with Israel.
There is a trade potential to be explored in Israel by businesses in Quebec and Canada. Israel's external trade accounts for 25 per cent of its GDP. Its imports amounted to $24.9 billion in 1994, and its exports totalled 6.4 billion in the same year.
In 1995, Canadian exports to Israel reached a total of $216 million Canadian, distributed mainly among the following products: aluminum, machinery, drugs, wood, pulp and paper. In the same year, Canadian imports from Israel amounted to $240 million, mainly in diamonds, which is practical, clothing, machinery and electrical equipment.
The main trading partners of Israel are the United States and the European Union. Israel signed free-trade agreements with both several years ago.
The agreement establishing a free-trade area between the United States and Israel was signed on April 22, 1985 and came into effect on September 1 the same year. A declaration on trade in services was also signed at the same time. A joint committee was established to supervise the implementation of the agreement and hold consultations on issues regarding the functioning and interpretation of the agreement.
This committee studies ways to improve bilateral trade. The main purpose of this agreement was to abolish import duties on all products, beginning January 1, 1995. Duties on some imports considered sensitive are being phased out on several years in order to allow production branches of both countries do adapt to increasing competition.
With respect to agriculture, the agreement, while recognizing that it would be desirable to open up markets by eliminating customs duties, allows both countries to apply other restrictions in order to maintain their respective price support systems.
The free trade agreement between Israel and the European Community was signed in May 1975. The agreement covers all industrial products, some agricultural products and some processed agricultural products. In 1976, an additional industrial, technical and financial protocol was included in this agreement. The implementation of the agreement ended in 1989. Since then, another agreement was signed, this time with the European Union, which has been in effect since January 1, 1996.
In September 1992, Israel signed a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association, also known as EFTA. The objectives of this agreement are to promote the harmonious development of economic relations between the EFTA countries and Israel, to ensure fair competition in trading between the signatories, to eliminate obstacles to trade and thus contribute to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade and, finally, to improve co-operation between EFTA member countries and Israel. EFTA members are responsible for about 11 per cent of goods imported by Israel and receive 4 per cent of its exports. Under the agreement, which came into effect on January 1, 1993, customs duties were eliminated in the case of bilateral trade in industrial products, fish products and other seafood, as well as for processed agricultural products.
The signing of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement will put Canadian businesses that trade with Israel on the same footing as American and European businesses that trade with this country.
On April 29, 1994, the government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the PLO, signed an economic agreement, which gives the Palestinian authority extensive powers over taxation and the regulation of trade and banking, as part of the autonomy of the Gaza Strip and the region of Jericho. The agreement is to be extended to the West Bank. It is more or less the equivalent of a customs union, with two exceptions. One concerns the importation of agricultural products and labour in Israel, while the other concerns a difference in customs tariffs when trading with other countries, tariffs the Palestinians may apply to an agreed list of imports to be used within the territories.
The agreement allows the Palestinian authority to collect taxes and import duties lower than those in effect in Israel, on a wide range of products, but only to meet the needs of Gaza and Jericho. All trading in goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip and the Jericho region will be free, with the exception of agricultural products, for a period of five years.
The State of Israel has been a contracting party to the general agreement on tariffs and trade, also known as GATT, since 1962, and is a signatory to the WTO agreement.
Bill C-61 before the House today will implement the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement signed last July by the Canadian government and the State of Israel. Clause 8 of the bill states that the House has approved CIFTA.
Part II of the bill deals with the amendments necessary to bring Canadian laws into conformity with the agreement. The following acts will be amended: the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, the Export and Import Permits Act, the Customs Act and the Customs Tariff Act.
If everything goes as planned, the agreement should come into force on January 1st, 1997. However, we suggest postponing the coming into force to a later date if the government is not satisfied that the State of Israel is really ready to implement this agreement, as provided under clause 62 of Bill C-61.
This clause states that the Governor in Council may not issue an order bringing the agreement into force unless satisfied the government of Israel has taken satisfactory steps to implement it.
The purpose of the free trade agreement, which was signed on July 31 in Toronto by the Canadian Minister of International Trade and Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, is to eliminate trade barriers and facilitate the movement of goods between Canada and Israel.
Article 2.1 of the agreement provides for the elimination of customs duties on all manufactured goods, except in two cases, as of January 1st 1997, Special treatment is provided for farm products.
As requested by Israel, a special treatment applies to certain cottons, as is the case for women's bathing suits, as requested by the Bloc Quebecois. Customs duties on these items will be phased out over a period of two years and a half to be completely eliminated by July 1st, 1999.
This exception made in favour of women' bathing suits is the result of considerable pressure from Quebec companies, including Shan, in Laval, and the Bloc Quebecois. Indeed, the Bloc raised the issue in the House on several occasions, bringing to the government's attention the concerns of Quebec bathing suit and lingerie manufacturers with regard to a possible free trade agreement with Israel.
These companies were concerned because Israeli businesses benefit from the elimination of customs duty on European textiles, thanks to the free trade agreement with European countries, and so they have a definite advantage in the area of manufacturing costs for bathing suits and lingerie since they can save 25 to 35 per cent on the purchase of raw material. We must remember that Israel is Canada's main competitor in the area of bathing suits and lingerie.
In 1993, the bathing suit and lingerie industry represented 10 per cent of all the Canadian industry and the annual sales of that sector reached approximately $450 millions. That equals the total trade between Canada and Israel.
We must also mention that following the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Uruguay Round, businesses in the fabric and garment industry had to make very major adjustments. It was quite normal that any new free trade agreement would upset them.
In 1995, Canadian customs tariffs on bathing suits and lingerie were anywhere from 18 to 25 per cent. The progressive elimination of these tariffs over a period of two and a half years is a lesser evil for businesses manufacturing bathing suits. That two and a half year period will allow Canadian and Quebec businesses to prepare themselves and to adjust to the competition coming from Israel.
Furthermore, we hope that delay will give the Canadian government time to negotiate the elimination of customs tariffs on European textiles for our Canadian businesses, as the bathing suit and lingerie manufacturers have requested for several months and as Israeli businesses have obtained.
The Bloc Quebecois regrets the fact that lingerie is not one of the exceptions mentioned in the agreement. Lingerie manufacturers, who very often are also bathing suit manufacturers, made representations to that end as well and their reasons for requesting an adjustment period in order to prepare for the opening of the Canadian market to their competitors are just as valid as those of the bathing suit manufacturers. But the lingerie manufacturers were the big losers in the negotiation process, as is all too often the case.
The free trade agreement between Canada and Israel refers to several provisions of the GATT and WTO agreements, for instance those regarding the trade dispute settlement process. Canadian and Israeli cultural industries are not subject to the agreement.
The negotiations with Israel concerning this free trade agreement started in November 1994. During the two years of negotiations, few people and few companies were consulted as regards the contents of the agreement. In fact, even the signing of the agreement was kept a secret. It seems to be the policy of this government to negotiate in secret and without consulting anyone free trade agreements having a direct effect on the Canadian public. The fact of the matter is that Canadians and Canadian companies have a right to know and should know ahead of time-not after all the decisions have been made, ahead of time-what trade agreements the Canadian government is negotiating and signing on their behalf.
Before the House adjourned for the summer in June, we made repeated inquiries of the office of the Minister of International Trade about the status of the free trade agreement negotiations with Israel. We were told that it was out of the question that any decision be made before the House reconvened in September. That is why we were very surprised to read in the July 31 or August 1 newspapers that everything had been signed. So we could fully co-operate and simply do our job, we asked to be kept informed on the status of negotiations between Canada and Israel.
International trade officials told us that things were at a standstill for the summer, that they would come back in September and inform us of any developments. This shows that, as I said earlier, the other side would rather negotiate behind closed doors.
Furthermore, these businesses must be kept informed. Quebec and Canadian businesses also have the right to express their opinions and to be duly consulted before the decisions affecting them are taken. History repeats itself with the free trade negotiations with Chile. Although we learned that the agreement should be signed when the President of Chile, Mr. Frei, comes to Canada in mid-November, we still do not know the content or even the main elements of the agreement.
Again, as in the case of the free trade agreement with the state of Israel, Quebec and Canadian businesses were not duly consulted before the agreement was finalized. Again, the Canadian people will find out the details just a few months before the provisions affecting trade and the future of our businesses come into effect.
The government must listen to what businesses, social, cultural and environmental groups, associations and anyone else have to say before signing similar trade agreements with other countries.
In conclusion, the Bloc Quebecois will vote in favour of Bill C-61, but we want to issue a serious warning about the government's tendency to negotiate and sign free trade treaties on the sly.