House of Commons Hansard #178 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was panama.
Anne-Marie Day NDP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, I think everyone can guess what my reply will be.
Workers' rights, their right to unionize and their right to defend their interests must be respected. People are being forced to work in so-called free zones, for terrible wages and terrible hours, for an unbelievable number of days and in unbelievable conditions. Indeed, the right of association must be promoted and respected.
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to talk about the Canada-Panama free trade agreement and the many benefits this agreement would bring for agriculture and agrifood producers and exporters.
First, I would like to emphasize that our Conservative government clearly understands that our standard of living and Canadians' future prosperity will be generated by a deepening and broadening of our trading relationships.
That is why our government is committed to securing and deepening access to traditional markets such as the United States, while broadening and expanding access to dynamic and fast growing economies around the world. Pursuing new trade opportunities is a win-win for Canada and its trading partners.
Canadians benefit from jobs, prosperity and consumer benefits that come from increased trade. In turn, our international partners, many of which represent developing economies, benefit from an ever-expanding middle class and improved standard of living that is lifting more of the world's population out of poverty.
We are also creating new opportunities for our exporters, opportunities that are bringing jobs, growth and long-term prosperity to hard-working Canadians across the country.
As Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector becomes more modern, more innovative and more competitive, the sector is becoming a more significant part of Canada's economy. In fact, in 2012 the agriculture and agri-food industry accounted for one of every eight jobs in Canada. This translated into employment for over two million Canadians. It also accounted for 8% of Canada's gross domestic product.
In 2011 Canada ranked as the fifth largest exporter of agriculture and agri-food products on the planet, thanks to exports totalling $41 billion. That is why our government works tirelessly to improve access to international markets for agricultural exporters.
Whereas over its 13 years in government the Liberals completed only three trade deals, in less than six years our government has concluded free trade agreements with nine countries. They are Colombia, Jordan, Panama, Peru, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland and Honduras. Sadly, the ideologically driven NDP has consistently opposed these agreements.
The Canada-Panama free trade agreement we are debating today is another example of the actions our government is taking to support Canadians as they compete and win in the global economy.
Our government will ensure that Canadian agriculture and agri-food producers and exporters remain competitive with exporters to Panama. I want to emphasize why this is so important.
As members of the House are aware, Panama has also concluded free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union. Panama's free trade agreement with the European Union could enter into force as early as the end of this year. However, the United States-Panama free trade agreement entered into force just last week.
The United States is Canada's biggest competitor in Panama and many Canadian exports are in direct competition with those of the United States.
Canadian products are now at a competitive disadvantage as they continue to face duties while exports from the United States enjoy duty-free access. Over 87% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods to Panama are entering that country duty-free. Our government will not let Canadians compete on an unlevel playing field. It is time the House finally passes this agreement.
Our agreement with Panama is a comprehensive agreement that covers market access for goods, including agriculture and agri-food products. In 2011 Canada exported nearly $25 million worth of agriculture and agri-food products to Panama.
Upon implementation of this agreement, high quality Canadian products such as beef, pork, malt, frozen potatoes, pulses, maple syrup and canola will benefit immediately from duty-free access to Panama. This will be welcome news for agriculture and agri-food exporters.
Let me cite one example. Canada's exporters of frozen french fries will benefit from the immediate elimination of Panama's tariffs of 20% on this product. In 2011 Canada exported almost $12 million worth of frozen french fries to Panama. This is a $1 million increase over 2010 exports.
It is curious that the member for Malpeque has suggested that in the past our government has exaggerated the benefits of the agreement. I would remind him that his home province of P.E.I. exported over $1 million of potatoes to Panama just last year.
Our pulse exporters will also benefit from this agreement. Tariffs of up to 15% will be eliminated with the implementation of this agreement.
Canadian malt exporters would benefit from the immediate elimination of Panamanian tariffs of up to 10%. Our pork sector would also benefit. Tariffs on pork products, such as fresh and chilled pork cuts and sausages, would also see immediate tariff elimination. Everyone knows the difficulty our pork producers have had in recent years. This is an industry that desperately needs this help.
In 2009, Panama re-opened its market to Canadian beef and in 2010 Panama lifted the last of its BSE-related limits on imports from Canada, including a ban on live cattle. This was good news for our beef exporters, and this agreement would bring them even further benefits. Under this agreement, Canada's beef exporters would see the immediate elimination of Panamanian tariffs ranging from 25% to 30% on all of Canada's beef cuts within a 200 ton tariff rate quota. Panama's tariffs on other agricultural exports, such as refined canola oil and refined sugar from Canada, would be eliminated over a period of five to fifteen years. This particular agreement would have ongoing and increasing benefits for agriculture and agrisector producers.
Those are just some of the benefits that our producers and exporters would see from this agreement. It is obvious that, for all of those reasons, the Canada–Panama agreement would be a win for Canadian agriproducers. It would create more Canadian jobs by enhancing our ability to export more goods and services to this dynamic and fast-growing market, including our agricultural goods.
I ask all members to join me in supporting this agreement.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the same question I asked earlier, but I will be more precise. I would appreciate a yes or no answer.
Putting specific countries aside, does the member think that Canada should sign a free trade agreement with a known tax haven? I am not asking for information about Panama specifically. Yes or no?
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, Panama, in particular, has actually done a lot of work to move itself to what we call “the white list”. It has completed several different components of the status that was given to it to complete before we did that. We continue to work with Panama, and it is working toward establishing itself as a country that will be on the white list, which will continue to improve some of these issues that the colleague opposite talks about.
Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity ActGovernment Orders
November 7th, 2012 / 5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Robert Sopuck Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB
Mr. Speaker, one thing about the NDP that never ceases to amaze me is when it opposes free trade agreements with developing countries because it claims to be the party that helps the poor. However, its opposition to trade agreements with developing countries does nothing but keep those countries poor, which is really shameful on its behalf.
In terms of agriculture, I have the honour of representing the constituency that is the largest canola producing constituency in the country. I was very pleased to learn of the potential for the canola industry.
Would my hon. friend tell me about other markets for specialty agriculture products that may become available with this free trade agreement?
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, I look to my own riding in the northern part of Nova Scotia that hugely bases its economy on agriculture. We have pork producers have suffered greatly. One of the largest pork producers in Atlantic Canada is still in my riding. This would open up the Panama market to him. It would remove those barriers. It would actually level the playing field with the Americans who have just recently put their deal with Panama into force.
I look at the maple syrup producers in my riding, and there are literally hundreds. We are one of the largest producers of maple syrup. This would level the playing field so that they could export goods.
We look at our beef producers who have had such a difficult time since the BSE crisis in 2003. These trade deals opened up international markets that, until recently, were closed to them, and it levels the playing field with many other countries so they can now export their beef and continue to build this business which has been in such a great crisis.
Without a doubt, this deal is important for us to settle and settle right away. With the U.S. putting its deal into force last week, it has an advantage of getting into the supply chain now, knocking out our companies and taking away those particular agreements from companies that could exploit them. So we need to level the playing field with the United States and that necessitates that we pass this deal immediately.
Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to ask a question immediately after a colleague with whom I sat on the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, where he and I had some very good discussions.
I would like the hon. member opposite's views on tax information exchange agreements. Canada is a champion in that respect. It has signed hundreds of such agreements with various countries.
We are currently signing a free-trade agreement, absent a tax information exchange agreement, with Panama, a country known to be a tax haven, even though it is no longer on the dreaded grey list.
What does the member opposite think about that?
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague indicated, Panama has moved off the black list and onto the white list. Since March 2012, we have been negotiating a tax information deal with it.
All we need to do is look at what our agriculture exporters will face if we do not level the playing field with the United States. Just in the area of beef alone, hundreds of thousands of cows will probably move to Panama. If we do not level the playing field, we will not have access to that supply chain, to that market. On behalf of our beef producers alone, the sector of the agricultural community that has faced such a great crisis since the BSE crisis of 2003, we need to move on this quickly. I do not understand why my colleagues across the way are continuously trying to slow this deal down and hurt our beef producers.
Brad Butt Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to the benefits for Canadian investors and service providers from the Canada-Panama free trade agreement.
First, I would like to emphasize how disappointing it was to hear some of the comments yesterday from the members opposite. We have before us in this House the opportunity to bring a level playing field to our Canadian exporters. Today, as a result of the U.S.-Panama free trade agreement, they are at a disadvantage.
Our government is committed to giving our exporters the tools they need to compete on fair terms. I am surprised by the member for Malpeque, for example, who claims to support this agreement but called our bringing this legislation to a quick vote “absurd”. I am sure the exporters in his home province of Prince Edward Island, who are facing Panamanian tariffs while their American competitors have duty-free access, would have a thing or two to say about that.
I am not surprised by the rhetoric coming from the NDP members. They have been consistently anti-trade since the days of NAFTA. Now they are committed to voting against yet another free trade deal. Obviously, a leopard does not change its spots.
I would like to speak to the benefits of this free trade agreement for Canadian investors. Foreign investment is an integral component of today's modern economy. With one in ten Canadian jobs generated by foreign investment, our government understands that attracting new investment is critical to the long-term prosperity of our economy. Investment not only produces jobs but it increases the transfer of know-how and of efficiencies and economies of scale to host the economy. It contributes to our nation's competitive advantage, it enhances productivity and it promotes innovations.
The results speak for themselves. Investments with our partners, inward and outward, are essential to the long-term prosperity of our economy. They not only strengthen Canada's global competitiveness at home but also paves the way for new opportunities for Canadian companies overseas.
This is why it is important to build on our investment relationship with countries like Panama. In fact, Panama is already an established and growing destination for Canadian direct investment abroad, particularly in areas such as construction, mining, banking and financial services. There are enormous commercial opportunities for Canadian investors in Panama.
We are already seeing some of these major projects unfold. Canadian companies are demonstrating tremendous interest in Panama, partly as a result of the major government projects currently under way there. These projects include the building or improvement of ports, roads, hospitals, social housing projects, bridges and airports, which are part of the $13.6 billion Panamanian government strategic investment plan. Under this plan, there are a large number of infrastructure projects that will create new opportunities for Canadian businesses.
The current and future opportunities in Panama for Canadian investors illustrate just how important it is to enhance our investment relationship with countries like Panama. Once this agreement is implemented, Canadian investors in Panama will enjoy greater stability, transparency and protection for their investments.
The free trade agreement with Panama would provide investors from both countries with the benefits that come with enhanced investment obligations. These reciprocal commitments would serve to promote bilateral investment flow, which is crucial in linking Canada to global value chains.
The agreement provides a range of obligations to protect investment abroad through legally binding rights and obligations. The investment obligations of this agreement incorporate several key principles, and they include treatment that is non-discriminatory, protection against expropriation without compensation and the free transfer of funds. Through this agreement, investors would also have access to a transparent, impartial and binding dispute settlement mechanism. While this agreement would ensure that investors and their investments are protected, it would not prevent either Canada or Panama from regulating in the public interest with respect to health, safety and the environment.
Let us now turn our focus to Canadian service providers. Our services sector is a critical component of the engine of our economy. In total, it is responsible for more than 70% of our total GDP and more than three in four jobs in Canada. That is why I am very pleased to see that our free trade agreement with Panama includes important provisions covering services that would open new doors for Canadian service providers. Indeed, this free trade agreement contains strong provisions governing cross-border trade and services that would provide new market access by Canadian service providers to Panama's dynamic and rapidly growing market.
The agreement provides market access beyond Panama's obligations under the World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Trade in Services, particularly in areas of Canadian expertise and export interest, including mining and energy-related services, professional services, environmental services and information technology. Indeed, the free trade agreement we are debating here today contains substantive provisions governing cross-border trade and services, as well as providing a level market access similar to that afforded under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Canada-Panama free trade agreement will provide a transparent, predictable and rules-based trading system to Canadian service providers, while ensuring they are treated equitably with Panamanian companies.
It is clear that Canadian service providers stand to benefit considerably from the implementation of the Canada-Panama free trade agreement. In 2009, Canadian commercial services exports to Panama amounted to $48 million. This agreement provides a great opportunity to take our current bilateral trade in services to a new level in the years ahead.
Closer economic integration with Panama promises to deliver further gains for Canadian exporters, investors and service providers. Canadians value the real and tangible benefits that this agreement will produce, and that is why Canadian businesses have been strongly advocating in favour of this agreement.
However, to take advantage of these opportunities, this House must pass the Canada-Panama free trade agreement tonight. With the United States-Panama free trade agreement now in force, the timely implementation of this free trade agreement is much more critical. That is why I urge all hon. members to support the implementation of the Canada-Panama free trade agreement.
Ève Péclet NDP La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague two questions.
There was a free trade agreement, and we studied it in committee. The NDP proposed some amendments, including to parallel agreements on the environment and on workers' rights.
My first question: Did the Conservatives act reasonably when they rejected every word of every amendment the NDP proposed in committee?
And my second question: Is that approach consistent with a desire to get the best possible outcome for Canadians? The Conservatives seem totally unable to listen to the official opposition and to negotiate with it.
Brad Butt Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Mr. Speaker, this agreement provides for a whole myriad of areas in its present form, including ensuring that Canada and Panama work under a fair and free trade arrangement. It would also respect one another's jurisdictions, environmental issues and other concerns that people may have with these types of agreements.
However, there is always the scare tactics from the NDP: if we sign this deal, the world falls apart; if we sign this deal, the environment falls apart. These are the scare tactics we get from the NDP any time we want to bring a free trade agreement forward in the House of Commons. It is nonsense stuff that comes from that side. They do not even support any free trade agreements that are brought to this House in any event.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin
It being 5:44 p.m., pursuant to an order made on Tuesday, November 6, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the third reading stage of the bill now before the House.
The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity ActGovernment Orders
Some hon. members
Agreed.
No.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin
In my opinion the yeas have it.
And five or more members having risen:
Call in the members.
And the bells having rung:
The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin
I declare the motion carried.
(Bill read the third time and passed)
The House resumed from November 5 consideration of the motion.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin
Pursuant to order made on Monday, November 5 the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment to the motion for concurrence in the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
The question is on the amendment.
The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin
I declare the amendment carried.
The next question is on the main motion as amended.
Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON
Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you would find agreement to apply the vote from the previous motion to the current motion, with the Conservatives voting yes.