Madam Speaker, I have just a short comment and then a question for my hon. colleague from the Canadian Alliance.
Earlier we heard from one of his colleagues in a presentation to the House in which he talked about the $90 billion plus net trade surplus that Canada enjoys with our neighbour to the south and how important that is. Certainly that is one of the reasons why I do support free trade and why I think most Canadians have seen the benefits of free trade.
However there are obviously some problems with NAFTA and with free trade with our American neighbours. Given some of the problems with Bill S-23, in that, as was stated earlier, without reciprocal legislation from the Americans to allow easier access to their market by our corporations and producers, we could see yet a greater impact on that trade surplus we enjoy today and which is of such tremendous benefit to our Canadian economy.
Problems have developed at our borders, with much justification I might add, given the tragic and terrible events of last week. Nevertheless, given the problems that we have seen over this past week at the borders, why would we move at this particular time to allow easier access to importing goods from the United States when U.S. intentions are obvious? There are some very real reasons why it is being forced to heighten its security at the borders, and of course that does damage to our exports.
I wonder if the hon. member would comment on why we would proceed at this time without a commitment from the Americans to bring forward comparable legislation in the United States.