Madam Speaker, the member made a number of points in his speech, one of which involved his opposition to NAFTA, an opposition stemming from concerns about softwood lumber. Of course he would know that softwood lumber had a special exemption under NAFTA, which is why it needed a separate deal. He might want to check his notes on that point.
I do agree with the member on a lot of the points he made, and they are are important. I will refer back to words in an old country song, “I was country when country wasn't cool”. This party was actually friends with the Americans when the Liberal Party thought being friends with the Americans was not cool, when someone like Carolyn Parrish was calling them idiots.
I remember, for example, the member for Selkirk—Interlake going with the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and putting forward the interests of Canadian beef farmers. I remember the member for Yellowhead and the member for Edmonton—Leduc meeting with speaker Nancy Pelosi when she became leader in the Democratic Senate and effectively putting forward our case, saying that we are here and we are partners.
Americans do not always change the rules when it works for Canada. When Canada was building up manufacturing jobs and increasing our footprint in the auto industry, we were selling those cars to the United States. That was NAFTA working.
I agree with the member. We need open trade. We need to make sure protectionist measures not only do not creep into the U.S. system, but also do not creep into any of the major G20 economies. That is why we signed on. Canada is a trading nation, and we benefit from that. I encourage the member and the Liberal Party to keep their current stance. It is the right one. The Liberals opposed free trade, but they are on the right side now. Let them keep it up.