Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chance to follow up on my question about the multilateral agreement on investment, providing a broad based public consultation, and having the government do that so the people of Canada can participate.
Before taking that step, the government should analyse the implication and the impact of the multilateral agreement on investment on our democracy in light of being locked in to it for 20 years, the impact on employment and environmental standards and the subjugation of lower levels of government in relation to the conditions of the multilateral agreement on investment.
We were concerned about the potential implications of national treatment for foreign companies and want the government to table the analysis particularly when it comes to first nations governments and their ability to look after their people or territorial or provincial governments.
By consulting the people, the government will show it is concerned about trade in the country and who will benefit the most, which should be the people and not just the owners of large amounts of capital.
The Canadian economy has always been global. That has never been a question. However it is how we organize that global interaction and who it is to benefit, the people of the country. It has always been the objective to have good levels of wages and to sustain our health care and education system and not to remove the people's choice for democracy.
In the case of the multilateral agreement, the federal government should not sign the agreement or any other agreement unless there is a binding agreement protecting the abilities of provinces, territories and the national government to protect their interest over the long term and not be subjected to the short term interest of foreign investment.
We ask the government to let us know what kind of consultation it is willing to undertake and what time schedule it is looking at. Considering the agreement has made a pit-stop as it is called in negotiations, this is the perfect time to do an impact analysis and consult the people of the country on what direction they want their government to take when it comes to international trade.