Madam Chairman, it is a pleasure to participate in this take note debate in committee of the whole on the state of Canada's resource industries.
Canada is the second largest country in the world in area and it is very rich in natural resources, which are an important source to a brighter future for our country. However, the government lacks vision and strategic planning in developing, exploring and utilizing these resources.
I notice that the government also lacks a balanced approach between resource development and environmental concerns. I will give a few examples to make my point, particularly in the mining industry.
I had an opportunity to visit a few mining industries. I have about 40 mining related industries that produce something for the mining industries in my constituency of Surrey Central. After talking with various individuals and businessmen in the mining industry, I learned that they consider it to be a tragedy the way the mining industry has been treated by the various governments, both federal and provincial. They are also upset with the regulations. They feel that the regulations are bureaucratic red tape in order to discourage them. Similarly, they say that the federal-provincial jurisdictions in some areas overlap and that in other areas they are not clear.
The mining industries spend a lot of time exploring and setting their infrastructure. They also use a lot of energy in terms of their management input and taxation becomes another factor that is driving them south. As an example, we have a $12 billion dollar investment in Chile which is three times more than our investment in Japan. We have invested $42 billion alone in the Americas outside of the U.S.
We are all aware of the softwood lumber crisis in the forestry industry. The people involved in that industry are very discouraged with the recent skirmish that has been going on. Free trade seems to be only one way but, when it comes to our natural resources, free trade has let Canadians down because of the poor planning, poor negotiating skills or mismanagement by the government.
I believe that anti-dumping and countervailing have not been handled right for many years. This new investigation by the U.S.A. in this area will probably worsen the relationship between the two countries on the trade front in forestry and especially in softwood lumber and in remanufacturing demanufactured products.
I visited a factory in my riding which utilizes waste products in the forest industry. That industry is also suffering because of poor negotiating that took place in the past. The federal government's policy on water exports is not clear. It does not seem to have a vision on how to handle the resource. It also has no clear policy regarding the production, export and pricing of electricity. We do not know where the government stands on such issues as air, flora and fauna, and endangered species.
I heard the speech of the secretary of state. I understand the challenges the government faces in terms of geography, density, remote areas and communities that depend on the mining industry and infrastructure development. We lack infrastructure development in Canada as far as natural resource rich rural communities are concerned. In addition, we know the market size is small. Regulatory and communication policies are stretched.
Natural resources contribute about 15% of our GDP. In 1996 the government mentioned in its throne speech the need for sustainable development of our natural resources.
As my time is up, can I have unanimous consent to increase my time by 15 minutes?