House of Commons Hansard #12 of the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was deal.

Topics

International TradeOral Questions

Noon

Outremont Québec

Liberal

Rachel Bendayan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business

Madam Speaker, I can assure you that our government understands the tremendous value that the wine industry brings to Canada and the contribution of the sector to Canada's reputation as a world-class agricultural producer. Our government will continue to stand up for Canadian workers and defend the interests of the Canadian wine industry. We have been exploring ways to resolve the dispute with Australia and our government is working closely with provinces on this issue and will continue to stand up for Canadian workers and this industry.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

Noon

Conservative

Chris d'Entremont Conservative West Nova, NS

Madam Speaker, today marks the day that Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, closes indefinitely. This is truly a sombre day as it affects the livelihoods of mill workers in Pictou County, and thousands of forest workers and truckers from all regions of Nova Scotia.

My question is pretty simple. What is the Liberal government doing to help these families in Nova Scotia who no longer have jobs?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

Noon

Sudbury Ontario

Liberal

Paul Lefebvre LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources

Madam Speaker, we recognize the closure of the mill will have a very real impact on our forestry sector in Nova Scotia and, most importantly, for workers. Our thoughts are with these workers and the families during what we know is a very difficult time.

Federal services and programs are available to support them. We have been in touch with the province to offer support. Actually, I was in Halifax last week talking to the minister himself. We will continue working with our partners to build a strong and sustainable forestry sector that remains a source of good, well-paying jobs.

Women and Gender EqualityOral Questions

Noon

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon Liberal Kanata—Carleton, ON

Madam Speaker, a recent Statistics Canada report shows that women are still much more likely than men to experience gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour at work and at school.

This type of behaviour is clearly unacceptable.

Can the Minister for Women and Gender Equality update this House on what this government is doing to end gender-based violence in Canada?

Women and Gender EqualityOral Questions

Noon

Peterborough—Kawartha Ontario

Liberal

Maryam Monsef LiberalMinister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

Madam Speaker, my colleague from Kanata—Carleton is right. Gender-based violence is unacceptable, its consequences are deeply harmful and it is preventable. Our government moved forward with Canada's first federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence. We have clarified the definition of “consent” in law, we have invested in thousands of shelter spaces and affordable housing, and we are working to create safer campuses and workplaces. There is so much more work to be done. Survivors are counting on every colleague to put partisanship aside and create a future where no one has to say “me too”.

International TradeOral Questions

12:05 p.m.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Madam Speaker, New Flyer Industries in Transcona is a world-class manufacturer of electric and diesel buses. Most of its sales go to the United States and the Buy American policy has forced it to move more jobs to the U.S. It is not alone. This is happening to workers and companies across Canada.

We have heard that Mexico got some relief from Buy American in the new NAFTA. Can the minister explain what efforts, if any, Canada made to protect Canadian jobs from Buy American and why they did not succeed?

International TradeOral Questions

12:05 p.m.

Mississauga Centre Ontario

Liberal

Omar Alghabra LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Public Service Renewal) and to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Madam Speaker, NAFTA is very important for Canadian businesses and Canadian workers. Our largest trading partner is the United States, and 75% of Canada's trade is with the United States. This NAFTA protects, especially in this environment of protectionism, access to the important U.S. market for workers and businesses. I ask my hon. colleague to work with us on ratifying NAFTA as quickly as possible.

Regional Economic DevelopmentOral Questions

12:05 p.m.

Green

Jenica Atwin Green Fredericton, NB

Madam Speaker, I welcome comments from the Minister of Economic Development on ensuring the delivery of strategic regional investments and a focus on rural economic development. I agree with the government on the importance of cybersecurity in Canada. I also agree with the official opposition that funding a multinational, billion-dollar corporation like Mastercard should not have happened.

Can I expect the government to also invest in local Canadian projects in the Maritime region like CyberNB, designed specifically to be the hub for Canadian cybersecurity, already in the construction phase and at a cheaper price for Canadian taxpayers?

Regional Economic DevelopmentOral Questions

12:05 p.m.

Ahuntsic-Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Economic Development and Official Languages

Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague that we want to support local entrepreneurs all across the country, and in particular in the Atlantic provinces. That is exactly why we decided to invest more in ACOA, in a regional development agency, by investing $170 million more. It will be a pleasure to hear from her as to where we should support really good projects all across New Brunswick. Of course, my job is to make sure that all colleagues in this House are able to create good opportunities across the country.

Animal WelfarePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:05 p.m.

Green

Paul Manly Green Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

Madam Speaker, I have a petition that calls upon the House of Commons to support Bill S-214 and ban the sale and/or manufacture of animal-tested cosmetics and their ingredients in Canada moving forward.

Climate ChangePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:05 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to rise to present a petition against the Kinder Morgan pipeline, also known as Trans Mountain.

The petitioners are from the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island, within my riding. This petition is somewhat stale-dated, but the points remain that the Trans Mountain expansion is a disaster for the climate and will increase risks of spills. They urge the government not to buy it. They may be experiencing buyers' regret. The petition is tabled in the hopes that the government will reconsider.

Religious FreedomPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition highlighting an important issue around civil rights and religious freedom in Canada.

As an immigrant and ethnic minority I know Quebec's Bill 21 has real human impact. I have spoken to many youth around Canada and they have all expressed their fear and disappointment around the bill. The petition recognizes that Bill 21 in Quebec stands against fundamental Canadian rights, and it calls on all of us parliamentarians to oppose this bill.

Human Organ TraffickingPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition is in support of Bill C-350 and Bill S-240, which were in the last Parliament. They deal with the issue of forced organ harvesting and organ trafficking. It calls for these bills to be adopted. There is no doubt that petitioners would want to see action taken in the current Parliament, given that those bills did not make it all the way in the last Parliament.

Human RightsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Madam Speaker, the second petition highlights the challenges of Pakistani asylum seekers who are currently in Thailand. It raises concerns about crackdown detention violence challenges that they face, and it calls on Parliament and the UNHCR to take action to support them.

This is a major issue for the Pakistani Christian community. We heard this week about similar challenges faced by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, from which there have also been many asylum seekers in Thailand.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

January 31st, 2020 / 12:10 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

Is that agreed?

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

12:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-4, An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:10 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, when we talk about the trade pact between Canada, U.S.A. and Mexico, the country came together in many ways. When we look at the legislation and what we are debating, the amount of support is very real and tangible, from industry leaders to premiers of all political stripes. Everyone understands the importance of the $2 billion in trade every day between Canada and the U.S.

Could my colleague from Don Valley East provide her thoughts on the importance of passing this bill? Could she also reflect on the support across the country for this agreement?

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:10 p.m.

Liberal

Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON

Madam Speaker, we have had so much praise for the agreement from different premiers, both Conservative and NDP, the labour unions, the agriculture sector, which is so important, and even from the Quebec premier. It is important for all of us.

In my riding of Don Valley East, the cultural industry and others are very keen on ensuring the bill passes. I hope we have the unanimous support from the House.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand here today to discuss the new NAFTA and the importance this agreement has not only within my riding of Foothills, but across the country.

Today, I want to be really clear. I want to talk about some background of how we came here. I want to be extremely forthright in the fact that many of the stakeholders who I deal with in the agriculture sector, whether that is farmers, ranchers or food processors, support this agreement and they want to see it passed. So do we as Conservatives.

We are the party of free trade. It was under a previous Conservative government that the first NAFTA was born, an agreement which brought about historic opportunities for the Canadian economy, whether that was manufacturing, industry, energy and certainly in agriculture.

It was also under the previous Conservative government, with prime minister Stephen Harper, that we signed free trade agreements with more than 40 countries, bringing Canadian businesses more than a billion new customers. That was unprecedented economic opportunities for our Canadian businesses across the country.

I would like to give a little history lesson. The previous Conservative government negotiated the free trade agreement with the European Union as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. However, the current Liberal government almost bungled those critical trade agreements, with geopolitical mistakes, that almost proved extremely costly to the Canadian economy.

For all intents and purposes, the Trans-Pacific Partnership was to be the renegotiation of the current NAFTA. We negotiated that agreement with President Barrack Obama in the United States, probably the most progressive president in the history of the United States. However, when the current Prime Minister and the Liberal government took power, that Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement was not progressive enough for him. In fact, when the Prime Minister was a no-show at that signing ceremony, it was an embarrassment to Canada. It embarrassed our allies and it was highly inappropriate, so much so, it almost resulted in Canada not being an initial signatory on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

However, what did result from the Prime Minister's embarrassing behaviour as part of that project, was four more years of uncertainty to Canada's economy. It also resulted in the Prime Minister saying that he was more than willing to renegotiate NAFTA under the new President, Donald Trump. That is where our concerns lie.

When the previous Conservative government negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the free trade agreement with the European Union, our previous agriculture minister, Gerry Ritz, and the previous trade minister, the member for Abbotsford, ensured that every step along the way their colleagues in the opposition had regular meetings, regular updates on what the process was, what the concessions were and what the pros and cons would be in it. In addition, all the stakeholder groups also had very keen interests and were included in all those discussions. We have none of that with the current Liberal government.

We have been kept in the dark from beginning to end with this new NAFTA. All we were asking for was some due diligence to see the details in that agreement. Therefore, people can see why Conservative members are not ready to jump on board and approve the Liberals' new agreement without giving it that due diligence, without giving it that scrutiny.

We have heard over the last few days of debate on the new NAFTA that the Liberals have asked us to trust them, that this is a great deal, better than any deal we have had before. However, the Liberals have not earned that trust. They have not earned that trust from Conservative members. They certainly have not earned that trust from stakeholders who have asked us, especially in the agriculture sector, to do our due diligence, to give this process the scrutiny it deserves.

Let us go back a little to why stakeholders are asking us to ensure we review this and why they are wary of what the Liberals may be trying to pass through this NAFTA. They have not earned that trust of many of stakeholders, especially in the agriculture sector.

It is a government that promised to do a thorough and robust review of the business risk management programs and come up with a new program that would be bankable, accessible and efficient for Canadian agriculture. The Liberals have not done that. It is a broken promise.

It is a Liberal government that promised a compensation package for dairy processors as part of its previous free trade agreements. It reneged on that promise. There is no compensation package at all for dairy processors. It is another promise broken.

This is a Liberal government that missed a critical deadline to apply to the World Organisation for Animal Health for negligible risk status for Canada when it came to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. That was a critical mistake.

The agriculture minister, the trade minister, the health minister, the Prime Minister, all of them dropped the ball. How does one miss a date that we knew of 11 years before it was coming? As a result, our beef ranchers in Ontario are struggling because of a lack of capacity and now have limited options to export their beef products.

Had the Liberal government met that deadline, and it was just putting a notice of motion on the table with the World Organisation for Animal Health to let it know that we would be applying this year, it would have opened doors for Ontario beef producers. However, the government did not do that, and has not apologized for this or admitted that it was a mistake. Not only was it a mistake; it was a crushing mistake for Ontario beef producers and certainly cattle ranchers across Canada. It was an important date that the government missed.

In addition to that, the Liberals have implemented a punishing carbon tax on Canadian agriculture. The agriculture minister has admitted this week that she is not keeping any data on the impact of the carbon tax on Canadian farmers.

People can see why our agriculture stakeholders from coast to coast to coast are questioning the ability of due diligence of the Liberal government when it comes to this NAFTA agreement. As I have said from the beginning, the vast majority of stakeholders want the new NAFTA agreement to be enforced, but they do not want us to jump in and sign this agreement as quickly as possible. They want us to ensure we look at every aspect of this agreement before we vote to ratify it.

This has been a harvest from hell for Canadian agriculture, and we have heard this from many stakeholders. I will read some quotes to show why our producers are a little wary of the Liberals' intent here.

Bill Campbell, the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers said:

We are firm in our position that there needs to be an exemption for farmers under the carbon tax framework for all the costs associated with drying all grain, as well as for heating barns and farm buildings...Now that Manitoba falls under the federal backstop, farmers are left paying prices that, as price-takers in the global economy, cannot be passed along.

Jeff Nielsen of Grain Growers Canada said this week:

The 2019 harvest season has put undue burdens on farmers’ livelihoods and every part of the country has been hit hard...Beyond just the crop left in the field, farmers have faced major grain drying expenses, courtesy of the federal carbon tax, to ensure at least some crops make it to market....These costs are adding up and we cannot continue to pay the price for inaction...A complete exemption for all fuels used on the farm is what farmers ultimately require to avoid these crises in the future and provide farmers with the resources to continue doing what we do best.

People can see why our agriculture stakeholders are concerned, because there is no trust level with the Liberal government.

Certainly, the Liberals are giving that great lip service that this new NAFTA is a better agreement, but before we make that decision, we want to have every opportunity to review it.

As many of my colleagues have said in their speeches over the last week, we have asked for an economic impact analysis, we have asked for data that backs up the agreement the Liberals have asked us to sign, but we have not seen any of those documents.

As I have said previously, the stark difference between when the Conservative government was negotiating these free trade agreements and the Liberal government is that under the Conservative government, we ensured that the opposition was involved every step of the way, that it was well informed with all of the decisions that were being made and that the stakeholders were there at the table with us. However, the stakeholders and the opposition have not had the same opportunity when it comes to this agreement.

It is an obligation as elected representatives that we do our due diligence. Our constituents demand us to do that. They are wary of what this agreement may hold. This is especially true when it comes to a trade agreement with one of our most important trading partners, the United States.

For agriculture, we must ensure that there is no question that the new NAFTA agreement represents stability and reliable trade with Mexico and the United States, two of our most important trading partners. In my constituency of Foothills, my residents demand that; they want that.

Free and fair trade is a top priority for us as Conservatives and certainly for our constituents as well.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:20 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, what Conservatives often have in common with Liberals is that we both support and recognize the importance of trade. This agreement furthers the sense of security for the $2 billion in trade between Canada and the U.S.

I disagree with the member, as he is attempting to rewrite history. The CETA agreement included just under 30 countries in Europe, and the trans-Pacific agreement included 10 countries. These are agreements that were not finalized by the Stephen Harper Conservative government. To give the impression that they were finalized at that time is just false. They were not even close to being finalized then. Many meetings took place, with the minister travelling abroad.

Having said that, this particular agreement has brought Canadians together, and the official opposition was provided the opportunity to sit down in December to get details.

Would the member not agree that we need to continue to work together to get the bill passed?

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

I just want to remind the parliamentary secretary to keep his questions a little tighter, a little shorter. I want to remind the members on this side that I have no doubt the member for Foothills is able to respond. In the meantime, I would ask that they hold their comments.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Madam Speaker, I completely disagree with my colleague across the floor, who is actually trying to rewrite history.

The TPP agreement was ready to be signed on the eve of the 2015 election. The second the Prime Minister took office, he should have gone to the table and signed the agreement. However, it was not good enough for him. That agreement was not progressive enough. In fact, the Prime Minister did not show up at the signing ceremony, an incredible embarrassment to this country.

We ended up with four more years of uncertainty when the TPP agreement was almost ripped apart. We came close to that. Canada was almost not even a member of the trans-Pacific partnership agreement. It was the same with CETA. In fact, under the Liberal government we have lost very important trade agreements with China, India, Peru, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the list goes on and on.

We are the party of free trade. The Liberals are the party of eliminating it.

Canada-United States-Mexico Implementation ActGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Bloc

Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his speech, especially since he spoke about agriculture.

Speaking of compensation, the Bloc Québécois will absolutely not accept as support a modernization program similar to the one the government created in 2018 for Europe. That program has proven to be a disaster.

We are calling for a program that provides direct support, and we want to see it in the next budget. What does my colleague think of that?