Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Elmwood—Transcona for the clarification of the legislative group's name.
He raises a good point that this committee should be seized with FIPA, which is the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement that was signed between Canada and China. As parliamentary secretary at the time, I was involved in that. That agreement was intended to provide some certainty to exporters.
The challenge we face is that Chinese exporters into Canada can use our courts, the most fair and judicious system of justice in the world. What do our exporters rely upon in China? There is no rule of law. FIPA was meant to take some of these disputes and almost immediately have them resolved. It maybe has not functioned as well as it should have, and this is in large part because of the Chinese state stepping back from engagement, which is being called socialism with Chinese characteristics.
To be an executive or on the board of state-owned enterprises, one has to be a member of the Communist Party. All of these companies, including Huawei, are extensions of the Chinese state. All of these things can be considered within this professional, all-party committee. I hope the NDP and my colleagues support this motion.