Mr. Speaker, let me amend my earlier statement to make it very clear that I also believe that the Canada-China investment treaty will create a chill for future Canadian governments if we ratify it on those very areas of the environment, health, safety and labour.
I will move to the member's point that I may be new to this House. I did not just drop off a turnip truck. I have been working on investment treaties for a very long time.
Go back to chapter 11 of NAFTA, which was the first in the world. Of course, it was subjected to a vote in this House, because NAFTA was a much larger treaty and had to have lots of other ancillary laws changed. Interestingly enough, if Canada were to give the six-month notice to exit NAFTA, there would be no grandfathering of other investments. In that sense, the Canada-China investment treaty is very unusual in having a 15-year first period and a further 15-year lock-in.
This treaty is one that should never be ratified. Canada should follow India's and Australia's lead and study this whole area to see if, on a cost-benefit analysis, these treaties are worth the paper they are written on and protect Canada's interests.