Madam Speaker, is that all he has, the same kind of Conservative theoretical rhetoric? I expected to have a real debate and all he has is that it will be an utter calamity if Canada does what is legal under trade agreements.
I am sorry to have to announce this for the member but he should have been following this. The Senate just adopted the language on iron and steel provisions, the buy American act, and reiterated that it is essentially within trade agreements. The member should know this. My goodness, he is the trade critic for the Liberal Party and he should know this stuff. This is pretty fundamental. Conservatives should know this too but they are trade illiterates. They simply do not understand.
The buy Malaysian, the buy Korean and the buy European clauses are all legal clauses and yet they do not bring them in. Is it because they are illiterate, uninformed or just do not understand trade? Is it because they are asleep? I have no idea, but time after time we are told it is legal, and time after time Liberals and Conservatives say no, that if we do that the whole world will explode. No, it will not but more Canadians will have jobs, more Canadians will be able to contribute to their local economy and more Canadians will be off employment insurance or welfare and be able to contribute to Canada the way they want to.
If the Conservatives and Liberals understood fair trade and understood that buy Canada is legal, more Canadians would be prosperous. It is a shame they do not understand.