Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the New Democratic Party caucus to speak to Bill C-35, an act to amend to the Special Import Measures Act and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act. Along with the Bloc Quebecois we oppose the bill, but we want to make clear that opposition in no way detracts from our overall support for SIMA and the work of the CTT.
The Special Import Measures Act remains one of the very few mechanisms we have in Canada to protect Canadian industry and jobs in the ongoing trade disputes we have with the United States in particular. Because we live in an increasingly liberalized global trading environment, we support the bill in so far as it clarifies, streamlines and improves the Special Import Measures Act.
However, we oppose Bill C-35 in its totality because we honestly feel that what is before us has not strengthened the legislation sufficiently, in particular with respect to trade with the United States of America.
In some ways the bill may actually weaken SIMA as a protection against unfair trade. As has been expressed by others, the main concern is the anti-dumping legislation. It must be as strong on the north side of the 49th parallel as it is south of the 49th parallel. In other words, our system must be as advantageous to Canadian producers as the U.S. system is to its producers. We can afford to do no less in the protection of our country, our traders and our exporters. I do not think the boy scout image will carry us very far in negotiations with the U.S.
The trade wars between our two countries have continued unabated despite the free trade agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. A few weeks ago and even last weekend we saw the spectacle of the U.S. violating international agreements, making it difficult for our processors and producers of grain and livestock to transport goods into the United States. The first blockade was with the encouragement of elected U.S. legislators, but that was not true with the resumption of the blockade we saw this weekend.
Bill C-35 may very well weaken SIMA and place our producers and shippers at a further disadvantage to their U.S. counterparts. The key concern would be implementing the World Trade Organization's definition of a lesser duty provision. The concept of lesser duty as I understand it allows anti-dumping duties to be set lower than the injury faced by domestic producers. There is a genuine concern that it will put Canadian producers at a further disadvantage.
Another aspect of it is the concept of material injury. We feel that too is inadequate. The U.S. employs a broad definition to provide greater scope for corrective measures. For example, pasta that was dumped on both sides was found to cause injury in the United States but not found to cause injury in Canada. The broader definition of the material injury has been pointed out as the reason for the different interpretations on either side of the border.
During the report stage of the bill, we supported the Bloc because we wanted to clarify material injury and ensure that it was as tough north of the border as the U.S. definition. We regret sincerely that that was defeated at the report stage.
We also supported an amendment which would have enabled Revenue Canada to use retrospective duty assessment in cases when there would be significant fluctuation in prices or costs. Once again we see that the United States uses the retrospective method in all cases which of course provides greater security for its domestic producers. We regret sincerely that this amendment was also defeated at report stage.
We regret profoundly that Bill C-35 was not used to strengthen the Special Import Measures Act. Does the government not recognize the inherent dangers our producers face? When our protective system is weaker than that of our trading partners, we disadvantage our exporters, particularly with respect to the United States, and make ourselves a target for countries looking to dump into North America. We expose ourselves to abuse from foreign exporters by our actions.
We see a pattern that emerges time and again in Canadian trade law and in Canadian trade policies. Whenever there is some liberalization to be done or some weakening of a nation state's ability to protect itself, Canada always seems to be the first to want to jump in with both feet. We are always eager to play the game, so eager that we often leave ourselves vulnerable to other nations, in particular to our powerful neighbour to the south. It seems we just cannot get enough of this tickle me Elmo approach by other countries and then we are first to hail any new agreement as some kind of testimony to our free trading spirit.
I say with respect that the United States seems to have absolutely no respect for any agreement into which it enters. The United States is the last country to amend its laws in such a way as to conform to whatever other nations may be doing in order to liberalize trade. The U.S. has not adopted this lesser duty provision, but no, we will be the eager ones again. We will be out there leading with our chins.
This certainly gives an opportunity in the context of Bill C-35 to say that we are not only opposed to the bill, but we are opposed to the entire approach that the government opposite has pursued with respect to trade.
The Liberal government has become totally uncritical about free trade in recent years. The Liberals have become evangelists for the very notions they deplored when they sat on this side of the House. After campaigning against the free trade agreement in 1988 and in the years following, after being elected in October 1993, the Liberal government promptly signed NAFTA. Since then it has become the cheerleader for additional free trade agreements around the world, whether it is signing on to the Canada-Chile free trade agreement, APEC, the free trade agreement with the Americas, the FTAA, the multilateral agreement on investment or the World Trade Organization.
The ongoing crisis faced by Canadian farmers shows the danger of sticking our neck out as far as we do for the sake of this or any free trade deal. The Liberal government went way beyond our WTO commitments to reduce farm support after the Uruguay round in 1993, way beyond what the United States has done, and way beyond what the European Union has done.
Many Canadians have a right to feel utterly betrayed. The result is a disaster for our farmers. We are now belatedly trying to rectify the damage that has been done.
The most recent deal the Liberals have chased after is the multilateral agreement on investment. Fortunately other governments had better sense. This fall various governments in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development rejected the MAI and the NAFTA model. When they looked closely at NAFTA as the blueprint for the MAI, they wondered why Canada ever agreed to signing a deal like NAFTA. They wondered why anyone would be so keen to replicate NAFTA on a global scale.
Our caucus has been critical of this unthinking pursuit of free trade from the beginning. We are not against fair trade. We are not against trade agreements that incorporate into them real, meaningful and enforceable protection for workers, for labour standards, for environmental regulations and for the continuing ability of governments to act in the public interest. It is because we believe in fair trade and the role of effective regulation that we support SIMA. That is why we see the need for strong and effective mechanisms to protect Canadian producers and ensure a level playing field with the United States.
In conclusion, we believe that Bill C-35 does not ensure this, so we do not support the bill. We oppose it because we believe that overall we are facing a weaker SIMA, one that will put us at a disadvantage especially with respect to the United States.
