Debates of Oct. 2nd, 2018

International Trade

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister and her colleagues seem to be celebrating. Meanwhile, aluminum, steel, softwood lumber and agriculture, all of which account for hundreds of thousands of jobs in Quebec and Canada, were sacrificed by the Liberals to the U.S. president.

The Prime Minister even agreed to a clause that limits global dairy exports to please Donald Trump. We know about the concessions, but we also want to know what new gains the Liberals managed to achieve. We have been looking but have not found any.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives seemed to have regained their confidence, which is surprising, since last year, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives were begging us to give in and accept any agreement, no matter the cost to Canadians.

Thanks to our patience and negotiating skills we managed to reach a good agreement for Canada.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe what I am hearing. It does not sound as if the Liberals have any clue that they hold the reins of power and are responsible for managing our economy. We all know the concessions the government made to reach a free trade agreement with the United States and Mexico. A 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum remain, softwood tariffs remain and major concessions were made on supply management, with 3.59% of our market being opened up to the Americans. The Prime Minister boasts that he has signed a good agreement. We are looking for the gains.

What is new in this agreement that was not already there in the previous agreement signed by the Conservatives?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there are many new developments. We have gotten rid of the NAFTA clause that undermined our sovereignty by preventing our government from controlling access to our precious energy resources. We have also gotten rid of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, which cost over $300 million. The new rules in the auto sector are going to protect Canadian workers.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Members do not seem to understand that one side gets its turn and the other side gets its turn and we listen to each side. It is a novel concept, I realize.

The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister rose yesterday to say with a straight face that he had preserved supply management. However, a first breach was opened with the European trade agreement, a second was opened with the trans-Pacific partnership, and a third has been opened with this new agreement. As a result of these three agreements, more than 10% of Canada's dairy market has been handed over to foreign producers.

Is that what they mean by preserving supply management? The Liberals had the opportunity to stand up for Canadians and agricultural producers.

Why did they cave?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we fully support our dairy producers, their families and their communities. It was a Liberal government that created the supply management system and it is a Liberal government that is preserving it. This agreement will provide market access, but most importantly it does not put the future of supply management in question. We will always support our agricultural producers and our dairy producers.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I doubt she even understands what supply management is, because if she did, she would not be saying that. The Liberals not only caved to the United States on supply management, they also offered up an extra goody, the elimination of class 7. The U.S. will now be able to export unlimited amounts of diafiltered milk here, not to mention getting an even bigger share of the market for regular milk. Ultimately, Canada has just told the U.S. to bypass our supply management system, to keep subsidizing their agriculture industry, and above all, to come dump their surpluses here, yet the Liberals claim to stand up for our farmers.

Why did they cave?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government worked very hard to defend Canadians' interests. Our government defended our supply management system, which the U.S. sought to dismantle. We are the party that implemented supply management, and we are going to defend it. I want to assure dairy farmers that they will receive compensation.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the devil is in the details and now we learn about an astonishing new clause in the USMCA. Part of Canada's concessions in this deal was to include language that holds Canada hostage to the Americans if we decide to trade with another country. No wonder the Minister of Foreign Affairs tried to downplay questions about this yesterday. Experts have called this concession a “severe restriction on Canadian independence and capability” and that the Americans are trying to control our trade.

Why did the Liberal give the go-ahead for the U.S. to pull us into their trade wars?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Essex for her collaboration in our work on trade. She is a really great partner.

Trade diversification is an extremely important part of growing the Canadian economy and we are going to continue to increase our trade around the world. In fact, it is our government that concluded CETA and the CPTPP. NAFTA, as an agreement, has always had a way for parties to leave, and that is essential, but let me be clear: Canada retains full sovereignty and complete control over our trade relations.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I promise if the government was listening, we would not have signed this deal.

Remember when the Prime Minister stood in Hamilton and said that Liberals would have the backs of Canadian steel workers. Where I come from, having their back does not mean signing a deal that could sell out 6,000 Canadian jobs.

Sacrifices made in the USMCA will hurt our steel and aluminum workers, and the Liberals failed to get any assurances that the U.S. would lift steel and aluminum tariffs before they signed the deal.

Do members know who the middle class is? It is steel and aluminum workers.

How can this Prime Minister turn his back on them?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this is a question that is very close to my heart.

I want to assure Canada's steel and aluminum workers that we are 100% with them. That is why, when the illegal section 232 tariffs were imposed on Canada, our government did not hesitate. We responded immediately, in a measured dollar-for-dollar response.

That is standing up for our steel and aluminum workers, and that is what we are going to continue to do.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the USMCA trade agreement, the U.S. made no concessions, while Canada made many.

Canadians will now pay more for drugs and lose the protection to have their personal data stored here in servers in Canada. Our farmers are being hurt. Our steel and aluminum sectors are being tariffed still. The softwood lumber tariffs seem permanent. If that was not enough, the Liberals gave Donald Trump a veto over our trade policies.

Will the minister tell us when, exactly, steel and aluminum tariffs will be removed?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I guess the members opposite were shouting so much they did not hear me when I talked about the improvements we have made.

Let me go through it again. We have removed ISDS, which has allowed U.S. companies to sue our country and has cost us hundreds of millions of dollars. We have removed the energy rachet clause, which hugely restricted Canadian sovereignty. We have tremendously improved the environment and labour chapters. The rules of origin in the auto sector will be a great advantage for high-wage Canadian workers.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, President Trump's top economic adviser said, and I quote, “Canada gave very graciously”. Yes, sadly, Canada gave very graciously. We now have quotas on the auto industry where none existed before, and our medications are going to cost more due to the government's inaction.

There is one more thing: could the minister reassure steelworkers and tell them whether the steel tariffs are still in place right now?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I prefer to listen to a Conservative who actually knows what he is talking about, like the first NAFTA negotiator, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who said that this agreement is a highly significant achievement for Canada, while benefiting all three countries as it should. He said that Canada appears to have achieved most, if not all, of its important objectives, and he is right.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I actually do know what I am talking about, and when I talk about Canada's economy, and especially Quebec's economy, I know that steel, aluminum and softwood lumber are very important to Quebec.

Could the minister tell us whether or not the U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and softwood lumber are still in place? This is important for the economies of Quebec and Canada.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we negotiated an agreement that protects Canadian jobs and creates opportunities for the middle class. It also preserves the dispute settlement system, maintains supply management, and supports our auto sector workers.

If we had given in when Stephen Harper told us to a year ago, we would not have any of this.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the champagne is flowing at the Trump Tower today.

Larry Kudlow, Trump's economic adviser, said, “Canada gave very graciously.”

Trump gave nothing back in return that we did not already have. In fact, we now have higher drug prices, so American companies can make more. The Prime Minister backed down on dairy without getting a single concession on American protectionism and subsidies. The Liberals gave Trump a veto power over our other trade deals and capped our auto sector growth.

Why did the Liberals give so much in exchange for so little?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy on the other side of the aisle is astonishing to me.

Before we got this deal, what we were hearing from the Conservatives was that we needed to start surrendering as quickly as possible. What we were hearing was a criticism of our view, which was that no deal is better than a bad deal.

We stood firm and we got a good deal for Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

They did warn us about a bad deal, Mr. Speaker, and now we see exactly what it looks like. They got absolutely nothing that we did not already have.

We now have higher drug prices to profit American drug companies, big concessions on dairy without any concessions from American agricultural producers, a Trump veto power on future Canadian trade deals and a cap on the future growth of our auto sector.

Why did the government capitulate so much in order to gain so little?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich to hear from the member on the other side of the aisle who lectures on the dangers of capitulation.

Our government is the one that in the face of hesitation, anxiety and hand-wringing from the other side of the aisle, stood firm and was resolute in defence of Canadian national interests. That is why we got a good deal.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Well, the government resolutely backed down, Mr. Speaker. It backed down on drug prices, which will be higher for Canadian seniors and Canadian patients. It backed down on agriculture, without getting a single concession from the powerful American farm lobby. It backed down on Trump's veto power over our ability to sign our own trade deals. The government backed down by allowing Trump to impose a cap on future exports of Canadian autos.

Again, why did the government capitulate so much to get so little?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Yet again, Mr. Speaker, it is very easy the day after to preach strength and firmness. That is not what we were hearing before this deal got done.

Let me correct the member opposite on a factual point, because it is important to tell the truth to Canadians. There is of course no cap, no quota on Canadian autos and car part exports to the United States. That is why the share prices of Canadian car part companies soared on Monday.