Julian Reed

[Final Offer Arbitration In Respect Of West Coast Ports Operations Act, February 10th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, I certainly agree with my hon. friend that the millennium scholarship fund announced by the prime minister will become a cornerstone. It will assist those students who not only are most in need but also qualify for post-secondary education.

I should point out to my hon. friend that the Government of Canada does not set tuition fees. The whole educational process is the purview of the provinces.

We play a major role in helping students with costs and in facilitating access to post-secondary education through the health and social transfer.

In the 1997 budget the government increased federal support for higher education and skills by improving interest relief and tax measures such as the period of interest relief and by pursuing with interested provinces an income related repayment scheme.

We introduced special opportunity grants for students with permanent disabilities, high need part time students and female doctoral students in certain fields of study. With all the financial pressure that has been on the government over the years we recognized the need for post-secondary education support.

The 1997 Speech from the Throne announced the government's commitment to help youth access education and to reduce barriers to post-secondary education through further changes to the Canada student loans program. It increased assistance for students with dependants—

[Trade, December 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his very insightful question. It demonstrates that he understands that what happens in other parts of the world affects Canada. That is why we are in Kyoto. That is why we are pursuing trade liberalization around the world. We are not going to let a temporary blip in the economies of other countries deter us from pursuing that as far as we possibly can.

Canada is part of the world now and it is time the opposition parties recognized that.

[Trade, December 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, Canada participates with the International Monetary Fund whenever there is a problem. Because we are a trading nation, we feel that we have to do that.

The economies of countries come and go. They wax and wane. When the opportunity presents itself, Canada is there with the International Monetary Fund helping out.

[Toy Labelling, December 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I was impressed with the debate here today. I appreciate the words of the hon. member who introduced this bill. His heart is on the side of child protection which is something where we all are on the same side.

The debate raises more questions than it answers. It raises the question of the research that was conducted which would lead the hon. member to introduce this bill and what were the methods used. Phthalates themselves may very well be toxic in a particular form but where is the evidence to show that phthalates migrate out of plastics and are ingested.?

Actually the word that is used in all these debates is the word “may”. It does not say it does it. It says it may do it. That is a weasel word because it is just as easy to say it may not. Therefore some of the more serious questions that are raised about the research must be answered before such a pronouncement can be made.

I appreciate that the hon. member is talking about labelling toys to say they contain phthalates, but what does it mean if such a label goes on to a toy? If an organization can stir up enough emotional response to say that phthalates are a terrible thing to be in toys, then parents may respond. But as a government we have a responsibility to make absolutely certain of the evidence before a decision is made. It would be absolutely irresponsible to simply accept a particular claim from a study that was done by an organization whose credibility is in question in the first place. I refer to Greenpeace and the misleading activities it has taken part in with regard to the forest industry in Canada. I suggest to my hon. friend that the credibility of Greenpeace today is zero.

Therefore I suggest to him that we should depend on the Ministry of Health in Canada to continue to conduct studies which have already begun. If Health Canada can find conclusive evidence of any kind we can be sure this government will act and act very quickly.

I have no question of the hon. member's intent. We all believe in the protection of children. From a government's perspective it would be irresponsible to actively campaign to ban something before the difficulty with it has been truly established.

[Business Of The House, December 3rd, 1997]

Madam Speaker, while we are naturally very disappointed in this recent development, I assure the House it is not going to slow us down one minute. We will continue to pursue our trade liberalization agenda in Latin America with or without a fast track in place in the U.S.

By the year 2000 this area will have a population of nearly 500 million and a gross domestic product of $2 trillion. Canadian business representatives are bullish on the region.

The achievement of more open markets through the free trade area of the Americans, as we call it now the FTAA, remains a top priority. Fast track is not a technical requirement for the negotiations to begin. It is, however, a signal of U.S. commitment that many FTAA countries are looking for.

We understand that the U.S. administration intends to resume its effort to obtain approval for fast track in the new year. We hope for a successful result in time for the Santiago meeting.

Complementing the FTAA, Canada is also proceeding with our trade dialogue with the Mercosur group of countries, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Canada's annual exports to this market are about $1.5 billion and Canadian investment there has reached $6 billion. We hope to put in place a framework for our trade and investment relations with Mercosur during the upcoming Team Canada visit to the region.

In January, as my hon. friend knows, the prime minister will lead a Team Canada mission to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. These three initiatives are aimed at expanding the links Canada has already established with key partners in our region.

[Global Vision, November 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the hon. member from Nipissing who is the parliamentary chairman for Global Vision, I am pleased to announce the completion of the Global Vision program for 1997 along with the report from junior team Canada.

Global Vision is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing young Canadians with an understanding of international trade and commerce. Following a series of regional seminars held throughout the country, 25 young leaders of junior team Canada representing 100 Canadian companies completed a successful trade mission to southeast Asia.

I would like to thank the following sponsors for helping to make this program a success: AGRA, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, CIDA, Corel, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Drake Goodwin Corp., Industry Canada, Laidlaw, Lombard, Microtronix, Mitel, Nova, Remington Energy, Singapore Airlines, Toshiba Canada, Western Star Trucks—

[Export Development Corporation, November 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Economic Development Corporation must subscribe to the policies of the federal government which de facto make it subscribe to a code of ethics set down by the government.

The code of ethics described there is for businesses that are not signed on and it is voluntary.

[International Trade, November 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would dearly love to. I could only tell my hon. friend we are aware that increased trade back and forth with the United States has brought on an additional burden at border crossings, and we are taking measures to correct it.

[International Trade, November 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the government is very concerned about activities going on across the border because trade has actually doubled over the last 10 years. We are in the process of upgrading all our transporter areas so that the problem will be corrected.

[Telecommunications Act, November 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Thornhill.

By November 30, of this year, Canada will have deposited an Instrument of Acceptance in Geneva signifying Canada's commitment to one of the most important trade agreements of the 21st century, the agreement on basic telecommunications.

As of January 1, 1998 this agreement will open a global market of $880 billion to Canadian telecommunications companies. Canadian telecom service providers and Canadian telecom manufacturers are the best in the world. Now they will have the opportunity to connect the world and build a new global information society by bringing Canadian ingenuity to the world.

Canada was a key participant in the drive to liberalize the world's telecommunication markets. At the end of the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations that established the World Trade Organization, it was recognized that there were serious gaps in the services component of the WTO and the General Agreement on Trade and Services covered many service sectors but did not cover some fundamental business enablers such as financial services or basic telecommunications.

After two years of negotiations an agreement was reached on February 15, 1997. On that date, 69 countries with over 90% of the world's telecom revenues agreed to liberalize their markets for the provision of telecommunication services.

As a result of the agreement on basic telecommunications, the ABT, there will now be multilateral rules for trade and investment in basic telecommunication services. Local and long distance telephone, cellular, data transmission and satellite services will be open to competition. Furthermore, Canada will now be able to resort to the WTO dispute settlement process should Canada's trading partners not implement their obligations to open their markets to Canadian companies.

Each of the countries participating in the agreement has made specific commitments, setting out the terms and conditions under which foreigners are permitted to supply basic telecommunication services in their market. For example, Canadian firms will now have full access to the U.S. market for the provision of basic telecommunication services. The use of reciprocity tests by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will be severely curtailed. Canadian companies will be able to provide local telephone services in the member states of the European Union and in Japan. All of Canada's major developing country trading partners have committed to allowing foreign competition into their markets and to allowing foreign investment of between 25% and 49%.

Besides making market access commitments, the countries participating in the agreement on basic telecommunications have committed to follow the GATS most favoured nation national treatment and transparency provisions. Countries will no longer be able to treat one country's telecommunication services providers better than another. This means that Canadian companies will be able to compete on a level playing field with other foreign companies in international markets.

For telecommunication services where countries have made market access commitments, countries will have to treat foreign companies in exactly the same way as they treat local companies. So, a Canadian company in the European market will be treated the same way as a European company.

Finally, any relevant changes to government policies, regulations or administrative guidelines must be notified to the WTO. As well, countries must respond promptly to requests for information on telecommunications policies and regulations. No longer will Canadian companies be stymied by walls of obscure foreign red tape when trying to enter telecommunications markets abroad.

Furthermore, in order to ensure that as countries move from monopolies to competitive markets, the local telecommunications companies do not abuse their dominant position. The agreement includes a reference paper on regulatory principles.

This means that measures affecting trade in telecommunications services must be administered in a reasonable, objective and impartial manner. Licensing requirements and technical standards must be based on objective and transparent criteria and must not be more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service.

Canadian telecom companies will be able to obtain interconnection with local telephone companies in foreign markets under non-discriminatory rates, terms and conditions. Perhaps most important, all participating countries must establish independent regulatory bodies which are separate from and not accountable to the local telephone company.

In addition to opening foreign markets to Canadian telecommunications service providers, the agreement on basic telecoms will result in the world-wide market of $800 billion, which means the market will double or triple in size over the next 10 years. This will generate a new demand for the products of Canadian telecommunications manufacturers as telecom operators around the world prepare for a new global environment of open markets and competition.

Companies such as Nortel and Newbridge as well as dozens of small and medium size companies from Newfoundland to British Columbia have carried the Canadian reputation for high quality, competitively priced telecommunications equipment. Now this reputation should earn them a healthy share of this dynamic and expanding market.

Canadian manufacturers will also benefit from the recently concluded information technology agreement. Under the provisions of the ITA, tariffs on information technology products including computers semiconductors and telecommunications equipment will be eliminated by the year 2000. This means that a market of $500 billion will become tariff free and will allow Canadian manufacturers to compete abroad on the basis of their products and their prices. They will be free from the market distorting effects of tariffs.

This government has promised to create jobs for Canadians and to make Canada a cornerstone of the global information society. In successfully negotiating the GATS agreement on basic telecommunications, we have done both. Canadian telecom service providers will launch into newly opened markets and Canadian telecom manufacturers will find that the demand for their products will double or triple over the next 10 years.

New opportunity translates into jobs for Canadians and a chance for Canadians to make their mark on the global information society of tomorrow.