Mr. Speaker, I want to begin my comments on this debate on the opposition day motion concerning the foreign investment protection agreement between Canada and China by saying that I noted that the comments made earlier today by my hon. colleague and friend, the member for Malpeque, were sound, logical and showed an understanding of the importance of trade and investment for Canadian families and communities.
I think most of us understand that those communities are built on having a strong economy and job creation. Having a good standard of living for Canadians depends upon those things, a strong economy and job creation. That is why the issue of foreign investment is so important for us.
Unfortunately, I have to say that my colleagues and friends in the NDP have again focused on their misguided ideology, which is opposed to trade and foreign investment agreements. As we have seen repeatedly in the past, this is the pattern. In the motion today, the NDP is saying we should not ratify the Canada-China foreign investment promotion and protection agreement.
In fact, in my view, a better motion from the NDP would have toned down the anti-foreign investment and anti-trade rhetoric and would have highlighted the areas that require improvement. For example, our party believes that foreign investment protection and promotion agreements, FIPAs, are important for Canadians investing abroad as well as businesses here at home, but only if we get them right.
Let us think for a moment about those businesses and who the owners are of those businesses in Canada that invest in China and elsewhere. Very often they are groups like pension funds. They are the companies that are in people's RRSPs. They are in index funds, mutual funds, the teachers' pension funds and others. Many of the Canadian companies, the kinds that are big enough to invest in China, are widely held by thousands of shareholders all across this country. It is important to them that these companies have returns and that the investments they have in other countries have reasonable protections.
Although the Canada-China FIPA has a number of shortcomings that must be examined, completely abandoning the treaty is an anti-trade, knee-jerk reaction worthy of the early 20th century. The NDP can try to deny that they are against trade and foreign investments, but their position is well known. That is why Canadians do not have confidence in them, even if they did remove the references to their socialist faith from their constitution. They can erase words, but it is difficult to erase ideas.
The Liberal Party recognizes that this agreement has flaws, just like so many of the failed fiscal and economic policies of the Conservative government. These are policies that have hurt middle-class families, that have led to hikes in payroll taxes, that have increased taxes on wigs for cancer patients, on kids' clothing and, yes, even on little red wagons.
We have seen the Conservatives' flawed fiscal management. We know that they inherited a $13 billion surplus, the best fiscal situation that any new government ever inherited in this country's history. However, they squandered it and put this country into deficit by April of 2008, months before the recession began. Of course, since then, they have had record deficits and have added over $150 billion to Canada's national debt. That is some fiscal management.
Now on this deal with China, we see other flaws. We see a flawed approach from a government that has repeatedly demonstrated a growing record of economic mismanagement. The Liberal Party has real concerns about provisions in the China-Canada investment agreement, particularly on the issues of transparency during arbitration, termination of the agreement and the length of time the agreement is enforced.
In fact, this is similar to what I heard from my constituents in a public meeting I held on foreign investment issues in November of last year. They were concerned that Canada would be locked in for 30 years. As one constituent pointed out, the North American Free Trade Agreement has to be reviewed more often and it has mechanisms for signatories to pull out of the agreement with a notice period.
They also felt it was important to see greater protection for Canadian companies and individuals when dealing with China. They felt that arbitration should not be held behind closed doors.
Our party has called for a public debate on this FIPA so we can look at the facts of the situation, instead of having a debate littered with misinformation and fearmongering. Unfortunately, our colleagues across the way, my friends in the Conservative Party, did not bring this deal forward for debate and have refused to recognize the obvious flaws that should be corrected to protect our interests as Canadians.
Let us look at the context of this. Just yesterday, in fact, it was reported that Europe is now the world's largest recipient of foreign investment by Chinese firms. Europe received $12.6 billion of investment in 2012. That is a 20% increase from the previous year.
Who would have thought, 30 or 40 years ago, that we would be hearing about the huge investments from China in Europe or anywhere else? It is amazing how things have changed and how the economy of China has developed and, as they have sold so many goods to the rest of the world, how they have developed the kind of funds to do that kind of investing.
However, this NDP motion to completely abandon the Canada-China FIPA would not only keep significant Chinese investment from entering Canada and creating jobs for Canadian workers; it would also ensure this money continues to flow to our competitor countries, like those in Europe that are welcoming that kind of investment, that see it creates the kinds of jobs that maintain and create a good, and a better, standard of living for Canadian families.
The Liberal Party understands the need for foreign investment to grow our economy and create jobs. However, there is a big difference between saying that we are open for business in Canada and that Canada is for sale.
The Prime Minister's government made a complete mess of the foreign investment file.
The government refused to honour the promise the Prime Minister made in 2010 to review the Investment Canada Act in order to clarify the rules regarding “net benefit” and to make the review process more transparent.
The Conservatives' bad management has led to ill-advised decisions that Canadians oppose because the government does not provide all the facts about investments, the commitments made or how they will be enforced.
Meanwhile, investors around the globe are becoming more and more frustrated and perplexed as they look at Canada and say, “What the heck is going on there? What are the rules?”
In fact, the report released today by the Institute for Research on Public Policy says so. It calls upon the government to rewrite its foreign investment rules. It says that up to now, the government has created an impression that Canada does not actually welcome foreign investment. The reports says the government's actions have, “magnified the uncertainty among potential investors”.
Canadians are worried that we are losing out on billions of dollars in foreign investment and thousands of jobs.
In fact, the report to which I have referred talks about the benefits of foreign direct investment in areas like renewable energy, which needs investment.
Let me tell members what else it says in this area about the importance of foreign direct investment. It says foreign direct investment:
...continues to be beneficial to the Canadian economy in other ways. It increases the pool, and competitively decreases the cost, of capital available to Canadian business to develop Canadian resources and create employment and training opportunities. It attracts top management talent to Canada and disseminates management training and expertise into the Canadian labour force. It facilitates technology transfer into the Canadian economy from foreign jurisdictions. And it further integrates Canada into international markets with concomitant reciprocal trade and investment accessibility for Canadian businesses.
I hope my socialist friends down the way were listening to that.
Canada is rich in natural resources, and it needs to ensure they are developed not only in a way that is environmentally sustainable, but also in a way that benefits Canadians, first and foremost.
That is why, despite years of Conservative inaction, we in the Liberal Party will continue to press the government to keep the promise made in 2010 by the Prime Minister to clearly define the net benefit test in the Investment Canada Act and to strengthen its foreign investment policy.
The Liberal Party believes that Canadians should know exactly what is on the table, so they can judge whether this FIPA or other deals involving foreign investment are good deals for Canada. In our view this deal with China should be reviewed by a parliamentary committee.
My hon. friends in the NDP earlier today refused to allow an amendment to their motion, but they are entitled to a second chance. I propose to move that the motion be amended by replacing all of the words after “China that” with the following: “prior to any decision on the ratification of the Canada-China foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, the said agreement should be referred to the Standing Committee on International Trade to conduct hearings across Canada and report back its findings and any recommendations to amend the agreement to the House”.
I ask for my hon. NDP colleague to consent to this amendment.
