Mr. Speaker, in April the Business Council on National Issues, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters Canada organized a luncheon to celebrate five years of NAFTA.
There is so much to celebrate. Total trade among the three countries has increased by 75% and now surpasses $700 billion a year. Employment has increased significantly in all three of the NAFTA partners.
The Prime Minister's comments to Michigan State University on Friday neglected to mention an important fact. NAFTA's success story in Canada came about for one single reason: the visionary leadership of the former Conservative government.
The Prime Minister and his Liberals must stop taking credit for Canada's growing economy because of NAFTA. This Liberal rewriting of history rivals credibility.