House of Commons Hansard #207 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was mpas.

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EthicsAdjournment Proceedings

7:55 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Speaker, I think a lot of Albertans who would listen to that and listen to the question I asked would wonder how the member opposite can justify the Prime Minister's lavish vacation, and the Ethics Commissioner's investigation, with this massive word salad of spin, which is blatantly false and does not apply to them. Albertans are not fooled, and that was just a foolish response. It was not even respectful.

My colleague opposite has been a parliamentarian for a long time. He has done a lot of work in the House. His daughter is running for a senior position in the Manitoba legislature.

How does the member live with himself when he has to stand up and defend the Prime Minister's lavish vacation, when the Prime Minister will not defend it himself in the House, given all of the tax increases the Liberals have put in place, and especially given the constituents he represents? Very simply, how can the member opposite defend the Prime Minister taking a lavish Caribbean vacation, which he is now under an ethics investigation for?

EthicsAdjournment Proceedings

7:55 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I can defend it very easily. The member asked how we can justify taking holidays considering what is taking place in the economy, and she then went on to give misinformation about the economy.

What I tell residents of Winnipeg North is that we did put a special tax on the wealthiest 1%, but we also put into place the most substantial middle-class tax break in decades in this country that affects thousands of constituents in the riding I represent.

Our government substantially increased the Canada child benefit and put it on a sliding scale. Why would we provide a tax break to millionaires when there are individuals in Canada who are making less than $30,000 and are finding it difficult to make ends meet? The Canada child benefit program benefits thousands of my constituents.

We also increased the guaranteed income supplement, which takes some of the poorest seniors in our country out of poverty.

It is with pride that I say that our government has done so much to improve the quality of life for many people in this country, but there is still a lot more to do and we plan to do it.

Steel IndustryEthicsAdjournment Proceedings

7:55 p.m.

NDP

Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight seeking answers to a question I originally asked last April regarding China's dumping of steel. In my riding of Essex, good-paying, high-skilled jobs at Atlas Tube rely on the Canadian government standing up to these unfair practices.

China is unfairly dumping steel at prices that undercut and hurt Canadian producers. Our steel industry, including its partners like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, local chambers like the one in my community of Windsor/Essex, and the United Steelworkers, is urging the government to strengthen Canada's trade remedy rules. Sadly, we have only heard empty rhetoric from the Liberal government.

The government has started to discuss a potential free trade agreement with China, and this raises many concerns about how Canada plans to address China's shortfall on human rights, environmental rights, and labour rights, as well as its record on currency manipulation and, ultimately, the unfair trade practices of the kind I mentioned, such as steel dumping and over-production.

In other trade agreements China has insisted that its partners grant it market economy status, which will make it even harder for our steel producers to compete, and extradition treaties, which will force us to turn a blind eye to the numerous outstanding human rights violations.

When I originally asked my question, the Prime Minister responded by stating that he had already addressed the issue with the Chinese leadership. However, in the five months since I raised this issue in the House, nothing has changed.

As a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade, I asked that we study the Canadian steel industry's ability to compete internationally. Our report was tabled in the House of Commons last June, and we put forward many recommendations. While the NDP supports the report's conclusion and recommendations, we believe the report should have gone further in emphasizing the need to work in close partnership with the United States and the need for urgent action by the government to defend and grow Canada's steel industry. The majority of our recommendations asked the government to defend our domestic steel industry against the unfair steel dumping practices of countries like China.

In addition, as a member of the all-party parliamentary steel caucus, I travelled to Washington last June to discuss the significant risks to Canada's steel sector if Canada and the U.S.'s trade remedy systems diverge. If the U.S. government, through buy American policies or otherwise, imposes restrictions on steel imports or applies tariffs to Canadian steel as a result of the section 232 investigation, the federal government should urgently seek an exemption from these restrictions or tariffs on Canadian steel.

Furthermore, the government must actively work in close partnership with the U.S. to address global steel dumping and must demonstrate to the U.S. the importance of working together, not against one another, on this very critical issue.

President Trump's repeated rhetorical attacks on key Canadian sectors such as auto, dairy, steel and, most recently, aerospace are deeply worrisome for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians whose jobs depend on the strong, integrated Canada-U.S. relationship. Aside from these attacks, the U.S. has, of course, gone ahead with countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports and the 220% duty now levied on Bombardier. These duties will devastate communities, mills, and workers across Canada.

The federal government's response to this point has been extremely weak. Requests for assistance and support have been met with silence. The Liberals talk about progressive trade that benefits Canadians. Now it is time to walk the walk.

Canadians want fair trade that benefits all Canadians, not just a few at the top. They want a government that has a plan for protecting Canadian jobs. They cannot afford another government that believes that bending to the will of a larger, richer nation is the way to go.

I would really like to hear from the parliamentary secretary on these issues. Canadian Steel producers and workers in the industry deserve an assurance that the government will get a commitment from China that it will stop unfair steel dumping in our country.

Steel IndustryEthicsAdjournment Proceedings

8 p.m.

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country B.C.

Liberal

Pam Goldsmith-Jones LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has indicated with regard to our interaction with China on the question of steel exports to Canada, this issue has certainly been raised by Canada by both the Prime Minister and the Minister of International Trade.

The issue of overcapacity was discussed at length by the G20 leaders at their meeting in Hamburg last July. China heard very clearly our concerns on this issue, which we take very seriously. The G20 leaders, including President Xi, agreed that all major steel producing countries must present solutions to ministers this fall through the G20 Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.

I would also like to mention that Canada is raising the issue of overcapacity at the World Trade Organization. In April, Canada, along with the United States, the EU and Japan, presented a paper on this issue to the subsidies committee and called on the committee to examine the subsidies that could lead to the problem of overcapacity.

The government has also responded to the steel industry's request for changes to our trade remedy law.

The government has consulted Canadians on additional steps to modernize and strengthen Canada's trade remedy system, and to ensure that Canadian companies are competing on a level playing field with foreign exporters.

Informed by these consultations, budget 2017 announced legislative and regulatory amendments to improve enforcement of trade remedy measures, address the circumvention of duties, better account for market and price distortions, and provide unions with the ability to participate in trade remedy proceedings.

Legislative amendments have passed, and the government is working on the regulatory amendments required to operationalize these new tools, which will provide Canadian producers with a more rigorous response to unfair trade and better align Canada's trade remedy system with those of our major trading partners.

Steel IndustryEthicsAdjournment Proceedings

8 p.m.

NDP

Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON

Mr. Speaker, the issue is not that the government is not talking about the problem or does not understand the problem. The issue is that the government is not acting on the problem, and this is costing jobs. This is costing potentially our footprint in Canada with respect to steel. We have seen incredible jobs leave our country. We have seen communities like mine in Windsor-Essex, certainly in Hamilton and, when we look to the north to, the Sault devastated by the losses they have felt from the impact of this Chinese steel dumping.

It has been two years since the government came to office and it is beyond time for it to act to ensure that good-paying jobs that sustain communities are protected. Many voices are joining in this and, to be honest, they are quite unanimous in what they propose: do not grant market economy status to China.

I would like to hear from the parliamentary secretary some dates on when we can expect this very unfair steel dumping to end, as well as whether the government is considering to grant that market economy status to China.

Steel IndustryEthicsAdjournment Proceedings

8:05 p.m.

Liberal

Pam Goldsmith-Jones Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, the government is actively engaged on steel. Canada has trade remedy measures on 15 different steel products originating from 23 countries, and China is covered in almost all of them.

As long as some exporters or countries use unfair trade practices, we will not hesitate to use these tools. We have one of the best systems in the world, and as we have shown in the latest budget, we are working to make it even stronger. This is of course important for steelworkers whether they are in Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie or Regina.

I thank my colleague for her passionate interest in this issue.

Steel IndustryEthicsAdjournment Proceedings

8:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 8:06 p.m.)