Madam Speaker, before I start I would like to commend you for trying to bring decorum into the House during the debate. Thank you very much.
It is a pleasure for me to rise on behalf of the constituents of Calgary East to speak on the supply day motion put forward by the NDP. At this time I have to make up my mind which way I should go after what the government and the NDP have said.
Let me start by telling the House why the Alliance will not be supporting the motion put forward by the NDP. The NDP's criticism of chapter 11 or globalization, as it has embraced the anti-globalization protest movement, is on only one theme. The theme is that it is multinationals against the others. All the NDP keeps saying is that it is multinationals against the others, but I can tell them that the issue is not multinationals. The issue is small and medium sized businesses.
Under the globalization regime that has taken place opportunity has now been given for the first time to small businesses and medium sized businesses to take advantage of and participate in trade. This means for both sides, not only for Canadians. It means that other countries can also take advantage of globalization. Their business people can take advantage of it and bring prosperity to their countries.
We all know that prosperity comes through a good economic plan. If a country does not have a good economic plan and the businesses are not there, no matter what we say at the end of the day people cannot take advantage of it. People will not have jobs. Where will prosperity come from? I can tell members that the government cannot supply the needs of the people. The government is only supposed to regulate. The government does not have the resources to invest in and try to uplift the standard of living.
It is very strange to listen to the NDP. Any time the NDP is in a position of power, it quickly changes its views. The parliamentary secretary spoke about the former premier of Ontario changing his view and saying globalization and free trade are good.
I would also remind the NDP that only three days ago its former member of parliament, who has suddenly changed and is now in the government, is saying that the NDP is on the wrong track in regard to this issue of anti-globalization. I am talking about the hon. Chris Axworthy, who is now a minister in the government of Saskatchewan.
Members can see what happens. Every time an NDP member gets into the government his or her views suddenly change because the importance of free trade is realized. NDP members go around saying they are anti-globalization, saying free trade is bad, and they focus all the blame on multinationals. Multinationals are not the issue. The issue is small business, medium sized businesses, farmers and everyone whose livelihoods depend on trade.
Our farmers' livelihoods depend on trade. We can all see what a devastating impact not having a rules based system in agriculture has had on the farming communities in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and all over Canada. It is extremely important that we have a rules based system so everyone can play a fair game and bigger economies cannot muscle in on smaller economies.
It surprises me, in that the NDP has so many members coming from Saskatchewan. Perhaps I should not say so many, but there is a little sprinkle here and a little sprinkle there of members who come from Saskatchewan and Manitoba and who stand up for their farmers. They should know how not having a rules based system can hurt ordinary farmers. These are not multinationals we are talking about. We are talking about ordinary Canadians, with medium sized farms, whose livelihoods are being threatened. This is when the NDP should get up.
To go back to the motion, and to the government on chapter 11, the NDP motion talks about what the Minister for International Trade said before the foreign affairs committee. He said “I can assure you that we are not seeking an investor state provision in WTO or anywhere else”. That is what the minister of trade stated.
This is really surprising coming as it does from Canada's trade minister, a trade minister who time after time preaches the benefits of a rules based system of trade for Canada. As the former critic for international trade, I have travelled with him many times and I know that his commitment to free trade is there. Therefore it came as a complete surprise to me when he made this statement, because he knows about the importance of a rules based system. Chapter 11 is a rules based system that has been put in NAFTA to address the issue of protection of investments. If there is no protection for investments they are not going to flow. We have seen this happen time after time.
On the one hand the minister wants rules to encourage fairness and predictability for investors. That is fair ball. On the other hand the minister seeks to change these rules in a secret backroom agreement. He has said that he would like to try to reopen this chapter 11 issue again with both the U.S.A. and Mexico. Both those governments have stated quite clearly that they are happy with chapter 11. They do not see it as a threat.
What baffles everyone is the fact that when the NDP went up against free trade and globalization, especially at the protest in Quebec City, it forgot that there were 33 heads of state there who were elected to represent the views of their people. There was the fifth party, which is not even in government, saying that these people were wrong. What else is a democracy if in a democratic system a government elected by the people cannot speak?
However, here we have people coming from a democratic system like ours saying that these people are wrong. Here is an example of the type of comments that were heard. The so-called anti-globalization protester, Jaggi Singh, said that the violence was inside when he started blaming the heads of state. This makes us wonder what a democracy is. There were people there who were elected to be democratic leaders and their views were being challenged.
I agree with one point, that is, we need a transparent system for these agreements so that Canadians know what it is they are signing. The simplest system for that is to bring this agreement into parliament. Let there be an open and honest debate in parliament. Let it be ratified by parliament. After all, parliamentarians are the voice of the people. We have committees that go out and listen to the people. Let the provinces have their say on this as well.
This is the appropriate way for a democratic institution to work. If the government is committed to an open, honest, transparent system, then it would do that by bringing this into parliament and having it ratified. I do not mean the FTAA evening debate the government gave us, saying it was an open, democratic system and we could debate. We had until midnight to debate it, and the government said it also had a parliamentary committee going out to listen to the people.
Hold on a minute. If this is transparency, then we have a serious democratic problem, because we stand up and make these points but no one is listening to us. We huff and puff here in parliament but no one is listening to us. We make speeches. The NDP might have a point or two that we should listen to. That is fine, but no one is listening.
We went to the committee. I have been on that parliamentary committee. I have gone out there with the parliamentary secretary. I have seen people come out to the committee and I have seen what happens. What happens? Nothing happens. The way the parliamentary committee is set up, the way the system is set up, we can huff and puff but at the end of the day it is the way the government wants it.
Violent protests regarding anti-globalization mean nothing. People are a little concerned about globalization. They are concerned with the fact that under globalization they do not know which way to turn. This uneasiness is translated into protests because of the failure of the government to engage people in debate and to promote the benefits of free trade.
We know why the MAI collapsed and went down the tubes. It was because the government thought that it would sign the MAI and then sit back silently, not talking to Canadians and not letting them know what was happening.
The issue which concerns us the most is the transparency of the system and the unopenness of the government to talk about the international agreements that it has signed. It was only after the pressure was put on the Minister for International Trade, when he went to Buenos Aires, that he said he would make it open. I commend him for doing that and for pressuring the other governments to do it as well. That is one credit that I will give him. However it came after the fact and only when there was pressure put on him.
After daily questions in the House the minister decided that he had better do something because things were not looking good in Quebec City. The minister could have done it before. The problem is that the government reacts after the pressure. It does not have the vision to say what it will do or how it will do it. Hopefully now it will get the message.
The Alliance agrees with the government that the principle of free trade is very important for Canada. Free trade is also important for the prosperity of poorer countries as it would raise their standard of living.
In the motion there is one point dealing with chapter 11 that worries us. I do not know what the government's position is on chapter 11. Maybe it could tell us because we are hearing contradictory statements. The Prime Minister says chapter 11 is working well. That caught the Minister for International Trade off guard. The minister is running around and trying to patch it up by saying that he is just thinking of improving it. Then we have the president of Mexico and the president of the U.S.A. saying that everything is fine.
There are a number of cases that challenge chapter 11. There may be one or two cases where the rules were not followed. There are more facts to the NDP story about companies that have won damages using chapter 11. The fact is that the government has failed to follow the rules which it should have followed. That is why it ended up paying. If it had followed the rules right from the beginning this issue would not have arisen. The parliamentary secretary knows what I am talking about.
Basically chapter 11 has been working well. If it has been working well and giving guarantees to investors, I do not see why it cannot be transferred into the FTAA and the WTO. It should be transferred because it would create a rules based system. It would give investors who invest money for the prosperity of everyone the kind of rules they need to know where to put their money and how their money would be protected. Business and trade rely on investment.
I grew up in African countries and these countries are looking for investment to increase their prosperity.
The figures regarding direct aid have changed. From the 1970s to today direct aid was given from government to government to many countries to improve their living standards. After 20 years we know that the living standards in continental Africa have fallen back. The direct aid program has failed miserably.
Today the figures state that private investment that is flowing into developing countries has tripled. Governments are viewing that as a new form of investment. It would be in the form of indirect aid and it would open up borders. It would raise the living standards of these countries, and every democratic country is thinking of that.
If we look at the figures today, the flow of private investment is faster into these countries and their standards of living are also going up. There is no longer direct aid.
If this happens as a developmental process then it is necessary to have chapter 11 which protects investment so that those who are investing know the rules of the game. We do not want a system where governments can nationalize investments making investors run away. At the end of the day money would not be given as direct aid. If we wish to raise the living standards of developing countries, it has to come from private investment, contrary to what members opposite are saying.
Chapter 11 is the route to ensure that this would happen. If there are one or two little bumps, it does not mean that there is something seriously and fundamentally wrong with it. In the overall scheme of things it would help everybody. It would help developing countries, and that is what we are looking for.
I would like to say to the Minister for International Trade that he should be very careful. What he was quoted as saying is now the basis of the motion. He should be extremely careful not to fall under the pressure of the NDP and make these kinds of statements that in the longer term would hurt free trade. In the long term it would create a crack.
If investment slows down, I am sorry to say that we would be facing the same problem, which is a shame as more than three-quarters of the people on earth live in abject poverty.