Mr. Speaker, I have to ask why we should believe anything the minister says in light of the track record of the Liberal Party on trade issues. I remember the 1993 election when the Liberals campaigned vigorously against NAFTA. They were to have nothing whatsoever to do with NAFTA.
I remember the previous parliament when the now industry minister campaigned strongly with all his colleagues against the pharmaceutical drug legislation, that gift to multinational drug corporations. In the interim we have seen one of the most disgraceful flip-flops. In fact the Minister of Industry gave a grovelling apology to Brian Mulroney at Davos, Switzerland: “You were right, Brian. We were wrong in the Liberal Party”.
Just last week in front of the Senate committee the minister apologized for the Liberal position on pharmaceutical drugs when he said in 1987 that the pharmaceutical drug bill would suck the lifeblood out of Canada's poorest citizens. That is what he said then. He has said the opposite now. Why should we believe anything that the trade minister tells parliament or the country?