Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise and address the motion. I want to remind the House and the people who are watching on television exactly what the debate is about. The motion states:
That this House has lost confidence in the government for its failure to persuade the U.S. government to end protectionist policies that are damaging Canada's agriculture and lumber industries and for failing to implement offsetting trade injury measures for the agriculture and lumber sectors.
I want to address some of the things that my Liberal colleague said a moment ago. She talked about how ridiculous it is to suggest that some of the problems that we have right now might flow because of bad relations between Canada and the United States. I will give a little historical background.
Coming out of the second world war Canada and the United States established all kinds of unique arrangements and partnerships, especially on defence. The reason we could do that was because the Americans trusted us as an ally. They knew that we would stand by them shoulder to shoulder. There were all kinds of arrangements, from Norad to purchasing agreements that allowed the Canadian defence industry to participate in bidding on U.S. defence contracts. There were literally dozens of them. They were not agreements that were open to any other country, just Canada. They flowed from the fact that we were a trusted ally.
I want to argue that the government has eroded that relationship. It has poked the U.S. in the eye, over and over again. We had the Prime Minister running around campaigning and saying that he did not want to be a close personal friend with President Bush, like Brian Mulroney was with Ronald Reagan. He made a point of that. As though somehow we define our sovereignty by how we alienate the Americans even though they are our largest trading partner, the most powerful nation in the world. What good can come from that I do not know but that is what the government did. Now the government denies that it is a problem. I think that is complete hokum and it defies common sense.
I want to address a specific issue that is important for my riding. We export cattle to the United States. Alberta is the biggest cattle exporter of any province. In total the cattle industry is worth about $3.5 billion of exports into the United States. We export grain and oilseeds which have been pounded in recent years by low commodity prices. We also have other kinds of products, for example, vegetables and other commodities. They are all going to be hurt by the U.S. farm bill.
What concerns me is that the government knew for months, in fact years that this was coming, but it did nothing. For example, my friend from Lethbridge in February asked a specific question of the agriculture minister about country of origin labelling. He pointed out at that time in February that there was a connection between the insistence of the U.S. to push toward country of origin labelling and something called terminal protocol, which is effectively a way of allowing U.S. beef to come into Canada, be fed in Canada, turned around and sent back to the United States where it would be slaughtered.
The problem at the time was that some people were concerned about a couple of diseases, one of which is called bluetongue. There was concern that if these cattle came in there might be some chance that bluetongue could be spread in Canada. The Canadian Cattlemen's Association, although it had a few reservations said it was a manageable problem. The feeder said there was no problem, to bring them in, and it could work with that.
When my friend from Lethbridge asked the minister about it, first the minister torqued the issue and said that the Canadian Cattlemen's Association was completely opposed which was untrue and at the time he did acknowledge that there was a tie between country of origin labelling and the terminal protocol. However he did not do anything about it. Even though there is broad support to establish the terminal protocol and effectively get rid of the country of origin labelling problem, he did not do anything about it. The result is that Canada now faces at this point voluntary, but in a couple of years mandatory, country of origin labelling which will have a huge adverse impact on the cattle industry in Canada.
I remind viewers and the House that the prairie farm economy is reeling right now. Grains and oilseeds are in terrible shape. Commodity prices are low. There is a drought in my riding, in Lethbridge and much of Saskatchewan. The one pillar that has been fairly strong but has started to weaken recently has been cattle. It will be devastated if country of origin labelling comes into effect as a mandatory measure in two years.
The government had the chance to stop it and the minister as much as admitted that, yet it did nothing. That is unacceptable. It had the chance. It has absolutely blown the trade file in so many very specific ways. It is unforgivable at a time when agriculture is reeling. The government and the minister had a chance to do something and grab the opportunity. Unfortunately they did not do that.
This is a $180 billion program that the United States is implementing over all, or $280 billion Canadian. It will have a devastating impact on commodity prices over the long run. It will set back negotiations with the Europeans at the next round of GATT. I am worried that it will take a longer period of time to drive down subsidy levels overall, which means that many farmers, including farmers in the third world, will suffer.
There was a time when Canada had tremendous influence with the Americans. That was one of the selling features of Canadian foreign policy. We used to say that we had a privileged place at the ear of the Americans. We were their greatest ally, their greatest trading partner, and we could talk to them about these things because we had that privileged position. Clearly, we have lost that. We were not able to do anything on softwood lumber and the U.S. farm bill. It speaks volumes about how we have lost prestige in the eyes of our American neighbours.
I believe we need two things. First, we need a change of attitude over on the other side. We must start looking at the U.S. as our ally and friend. When we are called to stand beside the U.S. after an event like September 11, there should be no hesitation. We saw hesitation from the government. We have a moral and legal obligation to get behind the U.S. when that kind of reprehensible act happens. We did not do it. We dropped the ball. I was truly ashamed of the government in the wake of September 11.
Second, we need an action plan when it comes to these sort of trade disputes. The Mexicans and the Americans are working on a rapid response trade dispute mechanism. The U.S. senate today passed a bill that starts to address that. Canada has not done anything.
My friend from Lethbridge has a private member's bill or motion that begins to address those things but the government has done nothing. We need an action plan that has measures like that. We need an action plan that begins to think about trade injury compensation programs. The government has not even thought of a plan even though it knew that the softwood lumber agreement would come to an end after five years.
The government has really bobbled the trade file. It has done a terrible job in establishing long term good relations with the United States, our greatest friend and trading partner, the most powerful nation in the world, one that we have had a long friendly relationship with. The result is that Canadians are paying the price. They will pay the price in the form of our inability to export the way we need to do as a trading nation and that will result in a lower standard of living.
I urge Liberal colleagues across the way to pay attention to what they have heard from my colleagues today on this issue. If they do, I know that they would begin to produce a trade policy that would make some sense.