Mr. Chair, it is great that we have the support of the President of Mexico in this dispute, but it is not his fight. It is not his problem that this agreement is not working for Canada. It is not his problem that our softwood lumber industry is taking this terrible hit from the Americans.
It is great that former President Clinton says great things to support us as well, but it is not his fight either. This is our dispute with the United States and our government needs to show leadership on it.
This dispute is not going to be resolved by President Fox or ex-president Clinton. It has to be resolved by the government and Canadians. If we do not stick up for ourselves and do more than just talk, do more than just make phone calls, or do more than plan trips to shopping malls to convince Americans that somehow we have been hard done by, then we will get nowhere. The negotiations will continue with the Americans and they will continue not to abide by the existing agreements let alone anything we come to down the road.
We keep hearing that the NDP would tear up the NAFTA. That is not our position. We said that we needed to ensure that it worked for Canadians. If it needs to be changed because it is not working, then it needs to be fixed.
The NAFTA is not working for Canadians. The binding dispute settlement mechanism is not working for Canadians because we won the decision. The Liberals keep saying that we won and that is great. However, what do we have to show for it? Absolutely nothing. This agreement clearly is not working for Canadians. It needs to be renegotiated and reworked so it will work for us.
We are not in this to improve the United States position. Earlier a Liberal member said that we were out to create a wonderful continent. Canadians want us to stick up for Canadian interests before we worry about American interests. That is my stand.