Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is touching on something peripherally which has bothered me for a long time. I would like to ask him about it.
Bearing in mind that we are the largest trading partner of the U.S. both ways, import and export, I would expect in the normal course of business affairs that we should have some influence down there but we do not seem to have much.
The reason is that we are so eager to play by the rules, to lie down and let people walk all over us. Sure, we have these trade disputes and we win almost every time but the hearings go on and on and on. We will win a dispute but they come back at us immediately on the same matter and do it all over again. In the meantime producers, employers and employees in this country are being crucified because we do not as a nation have the huge economic base to fall back on that the United States does.
There is a situation right now in my riding and in neighbouring ridings. Exporters of agricultural products are being subjected to what can only be described as harassment by the governments of the border states. They are using state troopers to stop goods which have legally entered into the United States at the border crossings. We have complained. We will go to NAFTA and the WTO. This will take weeks and months before it is resolved. I think we will win but in the meantime there are people who are really hurting.
I wonder if my colleague would give his opinion on my suggestion that when we are bitten we should bite back. Every week thousands of tonnes of American beef cross the border coming north into Ontario and Quebec. Why do we not find a pretext similar to the ones that are being used by the governors of North Dakota and Montana and say “Sorry fellows, but the packages are the wrong colour. We are not going to let that garbage into the country until you straighten up your act”. I think we would find that the border problems on the other side of the country would very quickly be adjusted. How does my colleague feel about that?