Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today on Bill C-17, introduced last week by the Minister of Industry.
The Telecommunications Act and Teleglobe Canada Reorganization and Divestiture Act follow in the path of removing monopolies and trade barriers in the service sector to allow Canadian firms to capitalize on their strong reputation in the international marketplace.
Canada's $18 billion telecommunications industry provides over a 145,000 direct and indirect jobs to the Canadian economy. The international telecommunications sector stood at $770 billion in value in 1995 and is expected to grow to $1.2 trillion in 2002.
The bill allows our Canadian telecommunications sector to serve the international community and increase its overall value by gaining valuable market access not only to the world's largest telecommunications nation, the United States, but also in 65 other markets.
Canada held extensive negotiations with the United States at the World Trade Organization last February where 67 countries were involved in trade services agreement negotiations. Canada coupled with the United States are important players in the international telecommunications industry because we have the largest volume of bilateral telephone traffic in the world. We obviously love to talk.
Since the days of Alexander Graham Bell and Marconi Canada, Canada has been a major in telecommunications. As with any trade objective certain aspects of the bill before us should be given serious consideration. Before I outline these portions of the bill I would like to examine the importance of Canada's overall trade competitiveness today.
It is important to note several factors that seem to surround our trade partnerships today. Since the signing of the free trade agreement and the subsequent NAFTA negotiations, Canada has become a prominent player on the international trade scene. Thanks to the foresight of a previous government, Canada has recognized the importance of free trade in today's global economy.
Without the original free trade agreement Canada's ability to secure its place in the vast North American marketplace could have been lost forever. Thankfully the once hotly debated issue of free trade has even been accepted by many groups and individuals adamantly opposed to it in 1998.
Because of a previous government's initiative Canada's main objective of having secure access to the American market is now a reality and this bill increases that access. With it comes certain consequences.
Since the American economy is considerably larger than our own, we have found ourselves at times willing to trade away reasonable access to the American market in return for little or limited access. This has caused some to decry that free trade with the U.S. is really only a form of managed trade.
There are examples where the government has failed in this area. The reason lies in the tentative nature in which Canada approaches invoking trade remedies and the lack of progress in negotiations surrounding this topic. Granted, this can create difficulty for certain industry sectors. However it is part and parcel of holding such open access to the American market, a position which many other countries would certainly relish.
The facts are undeniable. Canada's exports have grown from $105 billion before free trade to $245 billion last year. American imports have also grown substantially, from $92 billion to $210 billion. Overall, Canada's trade surplus has grown considerably, reaching the $40 billion level last year. Furthermore, free trade has catalysed significant growth in productivity and has promoted economies of scale. The result has yielded greater Canadian competitiveness in export merchandise.
This bill though deals with the service sector and follows the World Trade Agreement reached last February in Geneva. When one studies a bill like this, it is useful to know the context in which it was signed. The World Trade Organization agreement saw Europe and the United States allow greater foreign control of telephone service companies thereby catalysing competition and construction of the international networks, thereby following the philosophy of the federal trade agreement and ensuring that Canadian firms have market access to the larger international markets like the United States.
In turn, the government has had to end monopolies held by two Canadian companies in key sectors. Teleglobe Canada's monopoly on overseas telecommunications will end in October 1998 while Telesat Canada, which now controls all domestic long distance satellite phone service, will see its monopoly end in March 2000.
Private sector industry officials state that these types of concessions were necessary, given that the North American market is heading in the direction of open access enabling Canadian firms to partner with others to offer international services. Furthermore the increase in international market access will also benefit telecommunications equipment manufacturers in Canada, some being in my own riding.
I find it interesting that the government is willing to advocate the privatization by the previous Conservative government of Teleglobe and Telesat Canada. At the time the former opposition party argued that we would lose our identity if the privatization process continued. This is another example of the Liberal government's ability to read public opinion polls and change sides on an issue depending on how it will play with the public.
Given the fact that the government is now supporting and furthering the policy of the previous government, our party will support Bill C-17. I look forward to having further discussions on this bill in committee.