Debates of Nov. 26th, 2024

U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Products

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Madam Speaker, I do not think my colleague's question is a bad one, but it is one thing that bugs me a little when it comes to the forestry sector.

My colleague seems to have a lot of fun doing round tables and sending out press releases, but when it comes to defending the forestry sector here in Ottawa, we never see him. He has meetings in the region, but we do not see him here in Ottawa. He has not asked any questions to defend forestry workers.

I am very concerned for the people in my region who work in this sector. My colleague says he supports them, but here, we see the complete opposite.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am very familiar with my colleague's region, having lived in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord myself. That is where I learned French. I love that region. Its forestry industry was extremely vital before the Harper regime decided to slash everything, not just in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, but also in British Columbia, Alberta and across the country.

We lost $1 billion, 100,000 jobs and 200 softwood lumber mills because of the Harper regime's irresponsible actions. Does my colleague understand the consequences of the Harper government's irresponsible decision to capitulate on softwood lumber? What does he have to say to the 100,000 workers who lost their jobs?

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague. He is someone I respect a lot. There is one thing I do not understand about his side, however, and that is why it supported this government's inflationary spending. The food banks are full and people are struggling to pay their mortgages at the end of the month.

I remember one thing very clearly. After nine years of this government, there has been no agreement on softwood lumber, and yet the former Conservative minister had one in 80 days.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, tonight we are having an emergency debate to discuss proposed 25% tariffs by the President-elect of the United States. We have to ask ourselves, “How did we get here?” The answer to that question is, “It is because the Liberals have so badly managed our relationship with the United States over the past nine years.” I could speak for two or three hours about that, but I only have 10 minutes, so I will only be able to address a few of these issues.

The first one is softwood lumber. We have had a softwood lumber dispute, unresolved by these Liberals, for the last nine years. As a result of this, we have lost tens of thousands of jobs in the forestry sector, and over $9 billion in duties has been collected by the United States. That $9 billion could have been used to invest in new equipment, new machinery, new sawmills, new technology and new jobs for Canadian workers. Instead, sawmills have closed and Canadian workers have lost their jobs, many of them unionized workers. These were good-paying jobs. They have all gone down to the United States.

Now, I understand why the United States is doing that, because they are trying to protect their workers. The question is, why has the Liberal Prime Minister repeatedly failed to protect Canadian workers? That is just on softwood lumber. Those tariffs total, on average, the countervailing and anti-dumping duties, about 15%, and it has wreaked havoc on Canadian workers. Now, we can only imagine what the proposed tariff of 25% would do to forestry workers from coast to coast to coast across Canada. That is failure number one, and the old saying is the sequel is always worse than the original.

The original failure by the government has been on softwood lumber. It is a horror movie in and of itself. However, the sequels actually just keep getting worse. The effect on Canadian workers is bad enough, but Canadians in general suffer the consequences of a Prime Minister who has incompetently managed the relationship with our largest trading partner. Let us remember, the trading relationship with the United States accounts for 40% of our GDP. It is the most important trading relationship that we have in Canada.

A Prime Minister really only has a few core responsibilities, one of which is to keep Canadians safe. We know the Prime Minister has miserably failed on this. Violent crime is surging, people are out on parole five minutes after they have committed a crime. That has been an abject failure.

The other very important thing is to maintain the trading relationship with the United States. Once again, the Liberal Prime Minister has been an absolute failure and a disaster. We start with softwood lumber, it is still not resolved nine years later, tens of thousands of jobs have been lost, and billions of dollars worth of tariffs have been collected, to the detriment of Canadian workers and Canadian industry.

From there we fast-forward, to 2018, when the United States under then-President Trump, imposed 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. Now, we have to ask ourselves, “Why did they impose those tariffs?” Well, it is actually pretty interesting because it was about the border.

In 2018, it was about the border, and in 2024, these proposed tariffs are about the border. History repeats itself when there is an incompetent government. The 232 tariffs were actually because Chinese steel and aluminum were coming into Canada and being diverted down into the United States, taking away American jobs and American steel production.

The Americans tried to warn us about this, repeatedly. I know this from my consultations with the steel and the aluminum industry. They were asking for Canada to come up with a way to deal with this, the anti-circumvention methods of bringing Chinese steel in through Canada and flooding into the United States.

Guess what. The incompetent Prime Minister and the incompetent Liberal government did absolutely nothing, despite repeated requests from the United States to clean up the border and stop allowing the steel to come in, so it imposed punishing 232 tariffs on Canadian industries. We lost jobs in our steel industry and lost jobs in our aluminum industry.

I know the government will say it brought tariffs in against the United States, etc., but the whole thing could have been avoided if it had not so incompetently managed the relationship with our largest trading partner. Because of how the government behaved, the United States put punishing tariffs on our steel and aluminum industry, which caused all kinds of damage.

Again, who are the ones that suffer from the Prime Minister's incompetence? It is not him. He continues to live his lavish lifestyle, but the workers, the unionized workers in particular, are the ones who suffer and lose their jobs when a Prime Minister so incompetently manages the largest trading relationship we have in our economy.

That is the interesting thing, that the 2018 tariffs were about a border issue. One would think that even a government as incompetent as the Liberal government would realize that maybe we should make sure we are taking care of our border with our largest trading partner and not treating it as an irritant, but the government does not. It just continues to bumble along and mismanage the relationship.

Where do we end up? We end up with a situation now where there is the potential of punishing 25% tariffs being levied against all goods coming into the United States. This would have an unbelievably devastating effect on the Canadian economy. One of the reasons, again, is the issues on the border.

Before I spoke tonight, I had the opportunity to watch a news report from a CBS affiliate in the United States. The report talked about 295 miles of border between Canada and the United States that encompasses New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, and said that the number of arrests that are being made by the U.S. border services is skyrocketing. Seven thousand people entered the United States illegally and were arrested in 2023, from just this 295-mile stretch of border. In 2024, according to the report I watched tonight, that number is up to 19,000. These are 19,000 arrests, not incidents, and according to the report as well, 321 of the people who were arrested out of those 19,000 were on a terror watch-list.

The Liberals mismanaged the border with respect to steel and aluminum, allowing Chinese products to come in, resulting in punishing 232 tariffs being slapped on Canadian steel and aluminum, which resulted in economic devastation in those industries. There were jobs lost by hard-working union members. I visited these members at steel plants across the country. They work hard. They lost their jobs because of government incompetence. Now they face the same reality because of how incompetently the Liberal government has mismanaged its relationship with our largest trading partner.

When we try to think about the effects of this, we have to think about the workers who are going to be affected. There is 93% of our auto manufacturing that goes to the United States, and 84% of our steel goes to the United States. When we look at unionized workers in the auto sector, the mining sector, forestry and oil and gas, 412,000 union jobs are at risk.

I do not know what the Liberals' approach is, other than incompetence, but we need a new approach. We need a Canada first approach.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, no government in the history of Canada has actually signed off on more trade agreements than this government. That is just a fact. Now we are having to do a second Trump trade agreement. The most recent trade agreement was between Canada and Ukraine. The Conservatives voted against it. Every other political party voted in favour of it, and just the Conservatives voted against it. When it came to the last United States trade agreement, they capitulated and wanted to give everything away.

Why should Canadians trust the leader of the Conservative Party today, when he finds it so easy to throw away important opportunities for Canadians? I would suggest he is not putting Canada first.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, we voted against the Ukraine free trade agreement because they tried to impose a carbon tax in a trade agreement for the first time ever. I read every trade agreement we have. Carbon pricing and carbon leakage are not in a single one of them. They were trying to put a carbon tax in a trade agreement with a country at war. It was a terrible thing to do; that is why I voted against it.

On the renegotiation, I have read the book by the United States lead negotiator. The member should read it. In it, with respect to their great negotiating tactics, he states that, on August 27, they had an arrangement with only a few hours to spare. However, the entire Canadian delegation was absent because of the cold U.S.-Canada relationships that went from June until August 22, when a new United States-Mexico trade agreement was signed.

Canada was not at the table for three months of those negotiations because of the absolute and utter incompetence of the Liberal Prime Minister and government. The Americans had a trade agreement and said that Canada could sign it or not. If that is negotiating well, they need to go back to school.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I have been waiting a long time to ask this. I was really disturbed by the speech from his leader, the leader of the official opposition. He decided, in the same way the Conservatives said the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement was woke, to attack the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, who has served this country for almost as long as the leader of the official opposition has been alive. He worked, served in Afghanistan and commanded naval destroyers.

Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee deserves an apology from the Conservative Party. Will the hon. member be honourable enough to do that on the floor tonight?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do not even know what to make of that. It is not a question that is relevant to any of the debate tonight with respect to an emergency debate on proposed tariffs by President-elect Trump. The contribution of the Green Party to this debate is to talk about a comment about the wokification of the military, which is actually a legitimate problem. It is one of the reasons we are having such a difficult time attracting soldiers. The Liberal government has really destroyed proud military institutions in this country. I am disappointed that this is the member's contribution to the serious threat to workers' jobs in this country, which has resulted from the mismanagement of the trade relationship. I thought she would ask that question, rather than trying to attack the next prime minister of this country.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party was part of a cabinet with Stephen Harper that made serious, severe cuts to Canada border control. We are talking well over a thousand jobs, millions of dollars, and then they wonder why some of the problems occurred after that butchering of the department by the Conservative Party.

Can the member provide his thoughts in regard to why those cuts were made?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, if only he knew someone in the government if these alleged cuts took place, which of course they did not. The Conservatives cut bureaucracy, not frontline BSOs. If only he knew someone in the government to fix this problem if it existed. They have been in the government for nine years. They have not figured out that there is a problem with the border. It is the epitome of why we are where we are; the government is incompetent from top to bottom.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to what is a very important issue for all Canadians in every region of our country. I thought maybe a good way to start it off would be to talk about the per capita foreign investment that we witnessed in 2023, where we saw that Canada, on a per capita basis, was number one out of all the G7 countries. In fact, if we take a look at all the countries around the world, we actually placed number three. That is important because it speaks volumes about where investors are looking to invest, and Canada is a prime destination for foreign international investment. One of the reasons for that is that they see in Canada an environment that values trade.

As I indicated earlier, no government in the history of our nation has signed off on more trade agreements with other countries than this government has. We understand the true value of international trade. And as the weeks and months go on, what we will be seeing is a great deal more discussion about trade between Canada and the United States because of the re-election of Donald Trump to the office of president. That will take effect, as members are very much aware, in January 2025.

I would like to emphasize that, when one takes a look at the first round of negotiations, one needs to reflect on the role the Conservatives played in opposition when the trade discussions between Canada and the United States got a little tense. The Conservatives and their leader—

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I apologize for interrupting the member, but this is an extremely important debate about a topic on which hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs depend. All the parties are here tonight, except the Conservatives do not have a single member of Parliament in the House. I find that—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member cannot mention who is or is not in the House. I would like to remind the member of that.

The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, with regard to the point of order, I believe the member is fair in his assessment. If the Conservatives truly believed in the issue they wanted to debate this evening as an emergency debate, one would think they would be fully engaged, yet it is the absolute opposite.

Having said that, we take the issue seriously, and that is why we need to consider how the Conservatives behaved in the last go-around. I am very concerned about Canadian jobs and the impact of the negotiations on the ultimate renewed trade agreement, which will eventually have to come into being. If the Conservatives were to have their way, they, and in particular this leader, have already demonstrated how quick they are to capitulate and give the Americans whatever they might desire in order to have a signed trade agreement.

We have clearly demonstrated, on the other hand, through the last nine years, that we know how to get it done and that we have the civil servants, the political will and the desire to get trade agreements done, and for a very good reason. I can take a look at exports in my home province of Manitoba and talk about things that are maybe not well known, such as pharmaceuticals. Manitoba exports a lot of pharmaceuticals. We can talk about wheat, canola, pork, potatoes, agricultural machinery or our mining industry. Manitoba is a leading bus manufacturer in North America. In fact, I can recall reading press statements about buses being sold to New York and many other states.

These are the types of things that generate real, tangible jobs. Manitoba's pork industry is an industry I have talked a great deal about in the past because it is a great example. There are literally thousands of direct jobs for people, from hog farms to processing plants, whether it is HyLife in Neepawa, Maple Leaf in Brandon or in Winnipeg, or others. There are thousands of direct jobs, not to mention thousands of indirect jobs. There were eight million hogs last year. This industry contributes a great deal to the province. What we apply to Manitoba can be applied to every province. Exports matter and they make a difference. They contribute to Canada's middle class in a real and tangible way.

The Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians back in 2015 to work hard in developing, supporting and increasing Canada's middle class. We did that in a number of different ways, including building a healthier infrastructure by spending record amounts of money, investing in Canadians and ultimately signing off on these trade agreements. We took a trade deficit situation from Stephen Harper and turned it into, on the positive side, a trade surplus. We looked at ways to enhance trading opportunities, which helps build that healthier middle class.

There are so many opportunities. Earlier this year, I was with the Minister of Agriculture in Manila, Philippines, where we opened up a trade office. One of the events I attended was at a local grocery store in Manila that had a profile of the many Canadian products on the shelves for sale. It was an impressive number of products. The manager said that Canadian products were in high demand. However, there is so much more potential. We also talked about other aspects of our agricultural industries at the trade office.

Early in December, in the next week or so, I will be back in Manila with the Minister of International Trade to look at ways to enhance trade opportunities between Canada and the Philippines, two great nations. There are opportunities for both countries.

We cannot underestimate the value of trade between Canada and the U.S. I thought it was very telling how the Deputy Prime Minister started off her comments earlier today when she addressed the House. She said:

Canada is the largest export market for the United States in the world. It is larger than China, Japan, the United Kingdom and France combined. It is also the case that the things we sell to the United States are the things it really needs. We sell the United States oil, electricity and critical minerals and metals

Canada is essential to the United States' domestic energy supply. Last year, 60% of U.S. crude oil imports originated in Canada, and the energy the United States imports from Canada is more important today than ever, at a time when we see how hungry AI is for energy and how important AI is in the economic vision of the new U.S. administration

She went on to talk about team Canada and listening to the different stakeholders.

However, what do we get from the leader of the Conservative Party when it is his time to shine on the trade issue? He says the Prime Minister is just having a Zoom meeting, belittling that Zoom meeting. The Prime Minister is actually having a Zoom meeting with the premiers of Canada, the first ministers of the provinces and territories. I see that as a positive thing.

It is nice to see one member across the way, even though he is not necessarily a Conservative member. I appreciate members of the Bloc filling some of the seats. Having said that—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member is not to reference whether people are in the House or not.

We have a point of order from the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I apologize. Again, happy birthday.

I just want to be clear. The member for Winnipeg North illegally stated that there were no Conservative MPs in the House for this important debate.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The member knows that he cannot say indirectly what he cannot say directly.

I would ask the hon. parliamentary secretary to wrap up.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Happy birthday, Madam Speaker. I do apologize for referencing that there were no Conservatives in the House throughout my speech.

Having said that, I—

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member for Winnipeg North is saying that there are no Conservatives in the House—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind members that we cannot reference whether there are a lot of people in the House, a few people in the House, certain parties in the House or certain individuals in the House. It would be best if members would allow the speech to continue.

The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, my point is that, whether it is the Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister or Liberal MPs in general, we go around and talk about Canada being the best country in the world to call home. We are proud of that fact. Conservative members of Parliament, led by the leader of the Conservative Party, across Canada and in the chamber, proclaim that Canada is broken. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We need to talk about how Canada has opportunities to continue to grow and to expand our economy to continue to build a healthier middle class in Canada.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I will not be mentioning the absence of the Conservatives today in my point of order, but I will wish you a very happy birthday. Thank you for presiding over today's very important discussion with all of our colleagues, minus the Conservatives.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, this is a really important debate. It would have been nice if at least some Conservatives would have been here.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I would like to remind members that they are not supposed to say indirectly what they cannot say directly.

The hon. member for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun on a point of order.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to wish you a happy birthday on behalf of the Bloc Québécois.