Pat O'Brien

[Iraq, May 10th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, I must say the member certainly managed to refer to several of his questions in his four minutes, so I took some notes and I would like to reply to what he said.

The member claims the Minister for International Trade said that he was opposed to an investment clause. That is not correct. The minister and the Right Hon. Prime Minister have repeatedly said that given the full context of Canada's trade with the United States the clause works reasonably well.

However the Government of Canada is actively seeking clarification with its NAFTA partners, specifically the Minister for International Trade with his counterpart ministers, to limit the interpretation some adjudicating bodies have given to chapter 11 which expands its scope beyond the intention of the three partners.

The member says that the government has no position on investment. The fact is we are still consulting with stakeholders. We are anxious to see all the positions of the other countries. We will not short circuit the process of consultation. When the government is good and ready with its position it will be publicly announced to Canadians and available on the website.

As for the text to which the member refers, Canada submitted the text in French at Buenos Aires for translation. We are awaiting the Portuguese text. When all the translations are done and when the secretariat of the FTAA which is now in charge of it has the four texts, it will release them at once.

One would think the sky was falling to listen to the member for Burnaby—Douglas. There have been a grand total of six cases. One was just withdrawn. We have done quite well whenever we have been challenged under chapter 11.

[Forestry Industry, May 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the American charges are patently ludicrous of course.

The truth is that Canada has some of the very best environmental forestry practices in the world. We only harvest one-half of 1% of our forests a year. In fact we grow twice as much as what is harvested.

With a larger commercial forestry than the United States, we harvest less than half of what the Americans do. A recent American university study ranked us ahead of the Americans in forestry practices.

[North American Free Trade Agreement, May 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has noted, the minister is having the opportunity this week to raise the issue of chapter 11 and other issues with trade representative Zoellick and with his Mexican counterpart.

The fact of the matter is, as the Prime Minister has said, the clause works reasonably well. One would think the sky was falling, to listen to the Bloc. There is a grand total of five cases involving Canada. Quite frankly we have done pretty well in these disputes.

[North American Free Trade Agreement, May 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said and as the minister has repeated, given the full context of our trade with the United States, chapter 11 is working reasonably well.

The opposition cited the case of Metalclad just a moment ago. It is interesting to hear the president of Metalclad decrying the fact that he sees the ruling as a loss for his company.

[The Environment, May 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP may be of the mind that nothing is being done but she is simply misinformed if that is the case.

There are ongoing meetings with officials. The minister is taking up the matter of chapter 11 with his counterpart ministers. I repeat, the minister and the Prime Minister have been very clear. The government feels that in certain cases chapter 11 has been expanded beyond the original intention of the signers. It seeks clarification and that there is the wherewithal within NAFTA to achieve that clarification.

[The Environment, May 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, once again the leader of the NDP misquotes the Prime Minister. What he said in his press conference following the summit was that the clause works reasonably well.

The minister had given the full context of our trade with the United States. The Minister of International Trade has said the same thing.

There have been attempts to misrepresent the statements of both gentlemen but they do not bear scrutiny. The government has been very clear. It wants to seek clarification of the clause but it is not prepared to see a reopening of that clause.

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the comments of my colleague from Mercier. It was refreshing to hear a member of her party recognize the outstanding leadership of the Minister for International Trade in trying to bring the greatest possible transparency to the FTAA process. It was largely because of the efforts of the minister in Buenos Aries that we had an agreement to publish the negotiating text.

My colleague from Mercier mentioned that there was a long list of cases that had been arbitrated but she only mentioned one, Metalclad and I know about that case. I would submit that there is not a long list.

Kept in context, I challenge the member on the number of cases. My information is that there are only five cases under arbitration involving Canada. That is not a large number considering we do $1.9 billion of trade every day with the United States and Mexico. I would like to have her answer.

I would like to ask her one final question. Is it the position of the Bloc Quebecois that we do not need to protect investors in Canada and that we do not need to protect Canadians when they invest abroad? Surely that is not the position of her party is it?

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

I have two questions for my colleague. As he and I recall, and as the NDP member who is hollering will recall, the FTAA was not an election issue at all. It had been negotiated for many months. When the election campaign was underway it was well known that Canada was involved in the discussions.

Why did the hon. member's leader and party fail to realize it at the time? Why are they only now jumping up and down and getting excited? Were they asleep at the switch? Did they not realize at that time that it was an important matter?

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague opposite from the Alliance Party for his very cogent comments. It is pleasing to hear some rational discussion, having had quite a bit of hyperbole and rhetoric from the far left earlier in the day.

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

It is just starting.