Mr. Speaker, last year an average of $1.7 billion of commerce flowed across the Canada-U.S. border each and every day. Fifty-seven per cent of that commerce was Canadian exports heading south.
In the aftermath of September 11, that trade is now in jeopardy as the Americans place security at the top of their agenda. Yet when people like American Ambassador Paul Cellucci talk about perimeter security the government outrightly rejects that idea.
Members of the government frequently say that September 11 changed everything. However, when it comes to the $1 billion a day in Canadian exports that head south to the United States, the government acts like nothing at all has changed.
Is the government prepared to protect Canadian exporters, or is it intent on sitting back and risking the one-third of the Canadian economy that is shipped to the United States each day?