Mr. Speaker, Canada and the United States are currently involved in a dispute, under NAFTA, concerning eggs, milk and poultry. The U.S. is invoking chapter 20 of NAFTA to challenge the tariff equivalents obtained by Canada as a replacement to the supply management system in these sectors.
We recently learned that, should Canada's position be rejected by NAFTA's dispute settlement panel, some 138,000 jobs in Canada and Quebec will have disappeared by the year 2000 in Canadian agricultural sectors. In Quebec alone, there are 45,000 jobs at risk.
Given what is at stake, we cannot afford to lose. The Bloc Quebecois will continue to keep a close eye on the government's handling of this important issue.