And yes they are Tories, but it was the NDP member of the legislature who raised the issue.
In 1997 it was raised 20 times in this House of Commons, 11 times by New Democrats. To be fair, two Liberal backbenchers mentioned it and one member of the Bloc. There were no Tories and no Reform members.
We do not have much time to get into the details of the MAI. But it is fair to say it is now obligatory because of the impact on Canadian culture, because of the impact on the ability of elected governments to manage the economy in the best interest of the citizens they represent, because of the implications of the MAI against the Canadian environment and against Canadian labour standards, that Canadians be informed.
Before this deal is signed, I would at least hope that the government would seek the input of Canadians as it did on NAFTA. We will do whatever we can as New Democrats from coast to coast to coast to oppose this deal. We do not think multinationals should be making decisions about our children's future. We do not think multinational corporations should be deciding what comes first.
In closing I will simply say let us be reminded that as we speak today, Ethyl Corporation has sued the federal government for trying to protect the health of Canadian citizens because it says it takes away from its profit to do away with additives to gasoline. That is what we are getting into, a trade deal that will impact on the lives of every Canadian. We are locking ourselves for 20 years into the future. Even future Parliaments will not have a chance to deal with this issue.