Mr. Speaker, since we have this unexpected opportunity, courtesy of the unanimous consent of the House, to present petitions, I would like to present a great many petitions. The petitions are very similar to ones I have been presenting for a number of years having to do with the WTO.
The petitioners call upon parliament to secure binding and enforceable rules to protect human rights, core labour standards, cultural diversity and the environment before Canada negotiates any new trade and investment rules at the WTO or any other trade forum. They insist that health care, education and culture be completely carved out of WTO agreements. They refuse to accept any trade rules of the WTO that would include an investor state mechanism which would allow global corporations to sue and intimidate democratically elected governments, and they call for the elimination of this mechanism from the NAFTA.
The petitioners also want to reform the WTO to make it a much more open, inclusive and democratic organization.
Finally, they call for work to be done to build an alternative model of globalization, one designed to help citizens in Canada and around the world to achieve a stable rules based global economy that would protect the rights of workers and—