Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to take part tonight in this take note debate on the impact of the summit of the Americas.
I think that the purpose of this debate is ultimately to send a message to the international trade minister, to give him an idea of what this parliament expects from these negotiations.
I would like to point out that the reason we are here today is that we were given a mandate by the people in November of last year. These are the individuals who, regardless of whether they are listening to this debate or not, entrust us with defending their views regarding certain matters on which each party had made its position known, as well as regarding other matters which had not necessarily been discussed in detail at the time of the elections. The people placed their trust in us and, at the end of the day, we must be able to act on this trust.
As far as the FTAA negotiations are concerned, what people want is for us, as parliamentarians, to monitor the negotiations effectively, in other words, to know where they are heading, how we are progressing toward an agreement, so that we will not be hit with something unexpected, as we were in the case of the negotiations for the MIA, the multilateral investment agreement.
The agreement collapsed at the last minute because, all of a sudden, people realized that it would put states at the service of multinationals, rather than ensure the opposite, that is, allow states to exercise real control over the circumstances in which free trade will take place in the future.
This is the condition imposed by the men and women who elected us so that we would end up with agreements that provide better access to markets. That is definitely the case. With the North American Free Trade Agreement, we saw proof of the advantages of developing free trade. In my region, for example, there are interesting aspects regarding exports.
At the same time, this experience has taught us that we must ensure that the framework for the new free trade negotiations regarding working conditions and social and environmental conditions is well defined. Otherwise, we risk aggravating the situation, creating situations in which we end up making poverty worse. Even if growth increases, we must at the same time ensure—it is our duty as members of parliament—that there is an adequate distribution of wealth.
To give you an example, I say as human resources development critic that there was a reform of employment insurance approximately five years ago that was lauded by international organizations such as the OECD, but we saw the implications in real terms of the Canadian government's choosing to go along with international demands. There was some kind of tacit understanding that the unemployment insurance plans should, for example, pay out an average of 50% of the average wage in benefits. Although here in Canada the percentage is higher, we passed legislation in order to comply with this international demand.
The decisions taken in the FTAA will apply for decades to come. Our children will have to live within this framework. It is important that we be able to participate in order that there be a truly democratic debate.
What you hear everywhere today about people who want to demonstrate peacefully, or even more aggressively, is that they are determined to hang on to this train to make sure that it gets to where the people, collectively, want it to go. They do not want to end up with an agreement that will be great for, let us say, the multinationals and the big commercial interests but that will result in the general public becoming poorer down the road. That is the kind of message we want to send to the minister.
We know that free trade aims at improving commercial dealings between countries. In the past, it has been possible, and we have examples of this, to carve out exceptions. The free trade agreement needs to leave enough room for small economies as well as big ones.
Take the case of softwood lumber. Under NAFTA, it became apparent that even if there was a free trade agreement in place, the more powerful partner, the United States, forced Canada to come to an agreement, which is about to expire, that is not in the overall interests of Canadians.
Would it not be important to ensure that the upcoming FTAA agreement has a defensible balance between the strong and the weak? I believe that this is the very principle behind the desire to encumber international trade. Yes, we need to facilitate international trade and free trade. Moreover, even the smallest countries that are represented—unfortunately, Quebec will not be there—need to have the power to intervene before the decision making bodies that are created so that they can obtain rulings based on law and not just on economic strength.
What I want is an agreement that meets the expectations of the workers in my riding of Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, who depend on exports for their living. I want the employees at the Bombardier plant in La Pocatière to have a framework within the FTAA that enables them to work and to sell what they make throughout the Americas. Hopefully, these workers will not wake up one morning to discover that their factory is about to be relocated to a country in South America as a cost cutting measure and because clear game rules were not established in advance in so far as working conditions are concerned.
These workers need assurances that the development framework will respect their rights as workers. High tech firms must also be at ease with this situation. Our farmers, perhaps the group that could be placed in the most tenuous situation of all as a result of future free trade agreements, need assurances as well.
This does not mean that the discussions in Quebec City will result in any real changes. However, groups that have developed systems such as, for example, supply management for dairy products will be assured of having their say before any system changes in fact take place. They need to know that their elected representatives can express their views and intervene in the debate in a relevant way.
Earlier, I made a reference to softwood lumber. What I said holds true for all forestry companies.
I would also like to see an accord that allows the government of Quebec the opportunity to continue to intervene whenever it feels the need to do so to avoid situations where, once the accord has taken effect, the use of certain development tools such as the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Investissement Québec, and so forth, would be prohibited.
Thirty years ago, there were sound reasons for wanting Quebec sovereignty, specifically a desire to better control Quebec's own universe and destiny. We felt that we were losing many of our powers because the federal government was exercising its rights in areas outside its jurisdiction. What is more, it continues to do so, regularly. Because of its vast financial power, it also proposes programs that are not necessarily in harmony with Quebec programs.
Today, when I speak to my children, especially my 17 year old daughter, what she wants to be certain of—and the reason why she is a sovereignist—is rather that Quebec will have a place in all the international agreements that will be concluded in the years to come.
In my opinion, the FTAA is teaching us a valuable lesson. We know that countries like Costa Rica and Panama will be present at the negotiating table and will make their points of view known, while Quebec—land of the only French-speaking people in North America, with a culture unique in the Americas—must beg in order to have its point of view considered by the government of Canada.
I think this is a fundamental argument we can use to tell Quebecers: “Yes, when you ultimately have to decide whether you want a sovereign Quebec in the next few years and in the next few decades, whom do you want to speak on behalf of Quebec, someone who was elected 75% by people from outside Quebec or someone who was elected 100% by Quebecers, people who have chosen to live in Quebec?”
The answer is obvious, and in the years to come, it will not be enough just to have control over domestic issues in Quebec and in Canada. We need to have some influence over the decisions made at the international level, something we do not have during the current negotiations.
As a sovereignist and an elected representative here in Ottawa, I think it is important to express our viewpoint and give Quebecers the opportunity to express their opinions.
I hope this debate will help the Minister for International Trade understand the mandate he is given and I hope that, following the various negotiations, he will assure the House that he was able to defend our positions.