Yes, anarchists. How dare they, a Conservative premier of Nova Scotia and a self-professed Liberal mayor of Halifax, support working people in the country?
Guess who else was there? Lo and behold, yours truly. Imagine that. We had a Conservative, a Liberal and a New Democrat standing together outside the plant to listen to speeches in support of the workers and to support their quest for fair compensation for the years of service they had dedicated to Volvo.
Guess what? Not one light bulb was broken. The plant was cleaner after the protest than when we went in. The workers got what they deserved. They did not maintain their jobs, but they kept their dignity and respect and received better pensions. That is civil disobedience 101. That is how it is done.
Lo and behold, the premier of Nova Scotia was there, the mayor of Halifax was there, and I was there: the great anarchists of our society. Imagine a member of parliament, the premier of Nova Scotia and the mayor of Halifax, great dissidents of democracy. It is absolutely incredible that those three anarchists could be there supporting working people.
Why would the Alliance, the Liberals, the Bloc and the Conservatives be so nervous about the NDP going there? I think there is an underlying tone to what they are saying. I believe that in their heart of hearts they know the FTAA will be a very frightening proposition for Canada. Municipal, provincial and federal governments in the future will lose the ability to enact laws or bylaws to protect the citizens of Canada.
What will happen? All of a sudden we will hear that they cannot do something because of the trade agreements, or that they cannot enact protective laws because of the trade agreements.
Since NAFTA and free trade have come in never in the history of this country have seniors found life harder. If we really want to see the inadequacies of this trade deal, we can look at what it has done to our seniors, one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the country. Ask the seniors in my riding and across the country. The choices they have to make now are among food, home heating fuel and prescription drugs.
We put them in that position. These people worked hard their entire lives, but because of these trade deals we cannot do anything about energy prices. Because of these trade deals we cannot do anything about drug prices. Because of these trade deals we cannot support and protect our farmers. Our seniors are saying that they elected us to do something about it and are asking us why we have not done anything. However, we hide behind the cloak of the trade deals.
We in the NDP have never been against trade. We are a trading nation. All we are asking for is fair trade, fair trade that benefits all working people and the environment of this planet.