Mr. Speaker, the evening is off to a good start. We are certainly going to have some very interesting exchanges and I am very pleased that we are holding an exploratory debate on the summit of the Americas in the House this evening.
Following on the enthusiastic remarks of my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I would like to focus on the trade dimension because, of course, that is the dimension which comes under my immediate authority and which has to do with negotiations for the FTAA.
I am very happy to be taking part in the exploratory debate this evening. Our country, Canada, is now resolutely committed to the Americas. Canada is now strongly rooted in the Americas and I am delighted at the leadership our country is now showing in the hemisphere.
I believe that the Prime Minister of Canada, who will host the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, is demonstrating very well how firmly our country is now committed to this hemisphere. I am very proud that the Prime Minister will be hosting his 33 counterparts, the heads of state and government leaders of 33 other countries.
Trade can help create stability and prosperity. The trade element of the summit of the Americas is a very important contribution. It is a contribution to wealth and to growth. It is also leading directly to improving the stability and prosperity of our hemisphere. Canada belongs to the Americas and to this hemisphere. It is imperative that we do whatever we can to contribute to stability and prosperity which go hand in hand.
Open economies lead to more open political systems. There is a direct immediate link between open economies and more open political systems. We see it across our hemisphere. We see the extraordinary example of Mexico which joined the United States and Canada in NAFTA. What do we see? We see a country that has achieved in five years the economic development that we thought would take twenty years. NAFTA has helped Mexico to prosper, to develop, and it has contributed substantially to making Mexico a more democratic country.
The fact that Mexico has progressed so fast within NAFTA is allowing that great country to have stronger institutions and a stronger democratic system. That is what trade can lead to and contribute to. These are the facts.
We have lived it with Chile as well. I remember how moved I was when I represented the Government of Canada in Santiago last year when Ricardo Lagos was sworn in as president of that country. What an emotion it was for the Chilean people to move in the direction of democracy. Trade is of great importance and we already have a free trade agreement with Chile as well.
There is a deep conviction on the part of the government to contribute to stronger trade links. We believe that trade leads to stability and we need that stability in our hemisphere. We believe in our hemisphere. We have seen the extraordinary progress over the last several years. The FTAA is a vote of confidence for the hemisphere's future.
We know that, after several hundred years of theory and practice, free trade raises overall incomes. That happens everywhere all the time. It is extremely important that we continue to do it. Canada has based its economy on export. We are a country that has been very successful at international trade. Only 10 years ago we exported 25% of our GDP.
We exported 25% of our gross domestic product in 1990. Now we export 45% of our GDP. This shows the progress we have made over the last ten years, from 25% of GDP to 45%.
Canada has managed to create two million more jobs in our economy since 1993. We must therefore reject the prejudices that the jobs are going elsewhere, to Mexico or Latin America, when we are negotiating free trade agreements. Free trade is good for us, good for everybody.
Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and leader of the Labour Party, pointed out here in this very House to what degree “free trade is for the poor”. It is absolutely obvious that we need to give the rest of our hemisphere the same opportunity we have for prosperity and development.
Canada has a lot to gain in the FTAA. Today 94% of the goods from Latin American countries can enter Canada duty free. That is not true the other way around. Canadian access to Latin American countries is not nearly as good as their access to ours. We need to negotiate better access for Canadian businesses in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean.
We need rules. The FTAA is about rules that will avoid the continuous arbitrary evolution and rule changes. It is very important that Canada continue that important trend.
The developing countries of the world also want to be part of these trade agreements so that they too, like Canada, can also benefit. They want the chance for wealth and prosperity that we enjoy and that we received largely by participating in the rules based system of GATT. We must move on.
A lot of things have been said in the House and elsewhere about the transparency of the negotiation. Tonight I will be quite clear and open. Never have I seen such an open and transparent trade negotiation. Canadian leadership has been at the forefront of that effort. Canada was the first nation to post its own negotiating position on a website a year ago. We were followed by the United States, Mexico and Chile. We now have transparent website access to the negotiating positions.
Canada has been an architect in the most open free trade negotiation that was ever undertaken. I have challenged the opposition to give me one single example of a more open and transparent international trade negotiation. The NDP, which keeps talking about these things, could not provide one single example. I am very proud of Canada's contribution to it.
We want even more. We hope very much that when Canada goes to Buenos Aires in a few weeks that we will be able to convince and persuade our colleagues from all countries to put their positions on the table.
In conclusion, I would like to say that in Buenos Aires we will be in mid-term negotiations. A lot of people are getting very agitated and saying that in Quebec City a radical decision will be made about our future. Let us put things into perspective. The Quebec City summit is extremely important for Canada's role and future in our hemisphere.
There will be a meeting of ministers of international trade in Buenos Aires next April 6 and 7. That will be our mid-way meeting on the negotiations, but people need to realize that there are three years of negotiations left. There is therefore all the time needed to continue to consult Canadians, this House, the standing committee on foreign affairs, the business community, the unions and the NGOs.