Colin Carrie

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned the importance of Toyota in his riding. I want to ask him a question about 5G.

One of the things with this agreement is it now means that we can trade equally across the border. Canadians have always done really well if we have a level playing field. Unfortunately, the Americans have been moving ahead with their 5G network. One company alone, T-Mobile, can supply up to 200 million Americans, and now the Liberal government is just dragging its feet on this issue.

To put it into perspective, the 4G network is like driving from Halifax to Vancouver, while 5G is like flying a jet there. If our automotive industries do not have that type of network here, it makes us less competitive.

I wonder if my colleague could comment on the Liberal rollout of the 5G network. The Liberals talked a lot about broadband, but they have basically done nothing about it, and if we do not have it, there will be a huge competitive disadvantage between Canada and the United States.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my hon. colleague about the timing.

He is well aware that the original trans-Pacific partnership was the renegotiation of NAFTA. It was ready to be signed back in 2015, two weeks after the Prime Minister took office. It was Mr. Obama's deal, the most progressive president in the history of the United States, and our Prime Minister decided that it was not progressive enough for him. Instead, he delayed the signing of the trans-Pacific partnership.

Obviously, the Liberals did not have any problems with it because they did eventually sign it. However, there was four years of uncertainty on the NAFTA, and of course we ended up with a worse agreement.

Would the member please comment on what these four years of uncertainty have done to the business sector in Canada, and that investment that could have been brought to our country that was not available at the time because of the uncertainty of the trade agreement?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, my colleague mentioned British Columbia and the effect of the softwood lumber disagreement. I was wondering if she could clarify her comments. I was not quite sure what she said in regard to this agreement and the softwood lumber dispute mechanism. I was wondering if she could clarify for all the people who depend on the softwood lumber industry for their jobs and the economy in British Columbia.

Is the member saying that this agreement kind of gets rid of that dispute?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments on the importance of trade.

He talked about the new CPTPP. If it were that important, he would remember that two weeks after the Prime Minister was elected in 2015, his first international trip was to the APEC summit. Mr. Obama, who was the most progressive president in the history of the United States, brought his deal, the TPP, there to be ratified and signed. At that time, the Prime Minister decided it was not progressive enough so he did not sign the agreement. Our allies that were there, New Zealand, Australia and Japan, were extremely upset. Eventually the government came around and signed the TPP, so obviously it thought it was a good agreement, although it was a couple of years late and included two sidebars.

It has been five years now, and the original TPP was a renegotiation of NAFTA. Could my colleague comment on what benefit there has been for the Canadian economy to have this amount of uncertainty over four years when the agreement could have been signed exactly 14 months before Mr. Trump was even elected, two years before this became a big issue? It would have been a great template for this new North American free trade agreement. Why did the Liberals not sign it in the first place?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, my friend from Quebec mentioned the issue of aluminum and that the government put forth a very green agenda in its trade missions. I think that all of us in the House can be very proud that the aluminum produced in Quebec is the greenest aluminum in the entire world.

It seems there is still some skepticism and concern about how aluminum is being treated. I would specifically like to talk to my colleague about the concern that has been brought forward in the media that perhaps there has been stockpiling of aluminum in Mexico which may be there from China, and that there could be a route coming around the back end. The issue is the quality of the aluminum, the fact that it is not produced in North America and there could be a back door.

Could my colleague please address this issue? Why was it an opportunity lost that we did not negotiate a better deal for our aluminum manufacturers considering we have the greenest aluminum in the entire world?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I want to welcome my colleague from the NDP to the Standing Committee on International Trade. I am really looking forward to his enthusiasm and commitment to making sure this is a good deal. He mentioned issues that we share in common, such as the issue of sovereignty and our responsibility as opposition to do our due diligence.

In December we asked the government seven questions. One of them was to look at the economic impact. I think the member shares our concern that the government would like us to rubber-stamp this without even having proper economic impact studies. One of the issues that is really important for Ontario and particularly my community is the effect of this deal on auto workers and the auto sector.

I was wondering if he could take a few moments to talk about the importance of this deal and the part that benefits auto workers.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, January 30th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows in the House, we in the Conservative Party are the party of free trade. I know business is really welcoming the certainty of this agreement. We just want to get that message out to Canadians that we will do our due diligence. We are still awaiting the answers from the government for the seven questions we asked back in December. It is important in these negotiations how we behave and how professional we are.

Could the minister comment on the conduct and comments of the Prime Minister during these negotiations, such as the personal attacks on the President, the irresponsible comments and being unprofessional when dealing with the American president?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 27th, 2020]

With regard to the merger of the Hamilton Port Authority and the Oshawa Port Authority: (a) what is the proposed timeline for the merger; (b) how many jobs are projected to be transferred as a result of the merger, and where will those jobs be transferred to; (c) how many jobs are projected to be redundant or eliminated as a result of the merger; and (d) did the government do an economic impact assessment on the merger and if so, what were the results for (i) Oshawa, (ii) Hamilton?

[International Trade, December 12th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, there is pain in Canada's auto industry. The loss of 1,500 jobs at Chrysler and 450 jobs at Ford, and the closing of our GM assembly plant in Oshawa are evidence of a crisis ignored by the Prime Minister. Now, at a time when he should be focusing on keeping jobs in Canada, the Prime Minister has agreed to new rules that hurt the Canadian aluminum industry and has spent his time focusing on the best way to draw the ire of the U.S. President.

When will the Prime Minister start focusing on the crisis in Canada's auto sector?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, December 12th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the words put into the Speech from the Throne are very important. They send messages.

The member mentioned that in the Speech from the Throne were the space-time continuum words. He can just imagine that being at the top of the minds of many auto workers in Oshawa who will lose their jobs this week.

There was not even a mention of manufacturing or auto in the Speech from the Throne. I know softwood lumber is a huge issue for him. By having a Speech from the Throne that does not pay any attention to those issues, what message does that send to industries and their workers?