David Emerson

[Aeronautics Act, June 19th, 2007]

moved:

Motion No. 6

That Bill C-6, in Clause 12, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 15 on page 13 with the following:

“(8) Les normes et les règles établies par”

Motion No. 7

That Bill C-6, in Clause 12, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 9 on page 18 with the following:

“à qui que ce soit des renseigne-”

[International Trade, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that without the softwood lumber agreement, the lumber industry in Canada would be flat on its back, even worse than it is today. We are working closely with the United States to improve cross-border travel to ensure that identification requirements are secure as well as facilitative of cross-border traffic. We will continue to do that.

We will work constructively with the United States.

[Foreign Affairs, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the House knows the allegations against Mr. Khadr are very serious. The question of accepting a repatriation of Mr. Khadr is premature and it is speculative at this time.

My colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has spoken directly to the Secretary of State about Mr. Khadr's well-being and has requested greater access to both his family and legal counsel and educational material for him. Foreign Affairs officials have carried out several welfare visits with Mr. Khadr and will continue to do so.

[Shipbuilding Industry, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I did not finish on what we are doing for the shipbuilding industry.

We have a 15 year phase-out and no tariff reductions for the first three years. We have a shipbuilding policy that will ensure the construction of ships in Canada for the next 15 to 20 years, spread continuously to ensure the full utilization of shipyards.

We have also, through the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Industry, replenished the funding and added to the funding of the structured financing facility for the shipbuilding industry.

[Shipbuilding Industry, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member knows that this is the first free trade agreement Canada has signed in the last six years.

As far as the shipbuilding industry is concerned, this trade agreement has the most generous provision for shipbuilding of any sector in any free trade agreement in the history of Canada.

[International Trade, June 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, that is a great question from the hon. member for Chatham-Kent—Essex and I can announce today that we have reached a free trade agreement with the members of the European Free Trade Association.

As the hon. member said, this is Canada's first free trade agreement in six years. During this time, our competitors have been entering into numerous free trade agreements that are disadvantaging Canadian exporters. This is an important agreement of $22 billion in--

[Softwood Lumber, May 10th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is taking his economics lessons from the NDP. To begin with, Ambassador Schwab was not in Ottawa. There was no secret meeting. We have had conversations in the past. We have had telephone conversations. They have been very constructive conversations.

The softwood lumber agreement is maintaining stability in the industry at a time when the lumber market is absolutely in the tank. If we did not have the softwood lumber agreement, those companies would be poorer, workers would lose their jobs and we would be in trouble.

[Softwood Lumber, May 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, if there is a farce here, it is the intellect of the hon. member. That is a complete farce.

Does the hon. member recognize that our industry got over $5 billion to build and strengthen the Canadian softwood lumber industry? Does the hon. member realize that we have a positive, constructive process to resolve our disputes?

Shame on the hon. member.

[Softwood Lumber, May 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am a little surprised that the hon. critic is taking lessons out of the NDP book on sellouts.

I can tell the hon. member that if we did not have the softwood lumber agreement in place today, we would be facing NAFTA chapter 19 litigation. We would be facing duties of 30% to 40%.

The softwood lumber agreement brings stability. It brings a process and a positive, constructive way to deal with these kinds of disputes.

[International Trade, May 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that the Prime Minister was in British Columbia last Friday. He gave a tremendous, strategic and compelling speech on our vision of global commerce, on the Asia Pacific gateway and corridor strategy.

The Prime Minister reiterated over a billion dollars in capital commitments to the Asia Pacific gateway and corridor strategy.