Mr. Speaker, the NAFTA and World Trade Organization were supposed to result in freer trade with the United States. Yet for Canada's sugar industry the opposite has occurred.
In 1995 the Americans ignored the spirit of the WTO and slapped heavy tariffs on Canadian sugar exports. Access to American markets fell by more than 60 per cent. The result: Rogers Sugar is closing its Winnipeg operations with a loss of 82 jobs.
But this is not the only sugar subsidy to prosper in the free trade era. The re-export program for sugar-containing products, which the U.S. agreed to discontinue in accordance with the NAFTA agreement, continues to thrive and subidize for more than a year after its promised termination date of January 1996. Special consultations to resolve the matter have gone nowhere, making it clear the Americans will not terminate the program until we force their hand.
I call on the government to stand by its promise to request a NAFTA panel and to kill the U.S. re-export program. And the sooner the better.