Gerry Ritz

[Transportation Modernization Act, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of issues. The minister quoted the Alberta Wheat Commission saying how much it looks forward to this, but it says that the devil is in the details. We see that the CTA has been put back into the negotiations among commercial entities, the shipper and the railways, which is going to drag out the timeline on making those things work. We saw interswitching go from 160 kilometres, which was working and being embraced by more and more shippers all the time, to 1,200 kilometres. The problem with the new 1,200 kilometre interswitch is that it does not take into account the southern corridors, where there is a real opportunity to move to other rail lines.

I wonder why the minister left those types of details out and if there will be the flexibility, moving forward in this long-term plan, to add them in.

[Committees of the House, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I do not disagree with what the chair of the committee said, but I just want to underscore a couple of points that we put in our attached report to maintain the access we have with our great trading partner, the U.S.

The problem we have is that, as these Liberals move forward with a China free trade agreement at some point, the first thing China asks for as a precondition is market economy status. What that does is change the whole atmosphere around countervail, dumping, and so on, as it is doing with steel.

The other thing is that we need a study on the cost of the carbon tax and how that will keep us out of the American market simply because we are adding that $50 a tonne on a number of different aspects of steel production.

Those two things need to be underscored in this report. I hope that the government will respond to those, especially, when it does.

[Firearms Act, June 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's bringing forward this timely piece of legislation. I just renewed my PAL. It was going to be up again in August, so I did it ahead of time to make sure it was not out of scope and I would have it when I needed it. It was a fairly innocuous process. It worked out fairly well, one phone call to New Brunswick and I had things sorted out.

One thing I have had questions from my friends about is going to a 10-year status. They like the idea, but so much data is collected when they apply the first time around, whether that is five years or 10 years, that if their status changes as in a marriage dissolving, getting divorced, they have to report that. If their address changes they have to report that. None of that would change going from five years to 10 years.

[International Trade, June 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is wonderful that the minister is getting his passport stamped but we are here to see results.

During the final TPP negotiations we had the CETA agreement signed in principle and used it to obtain better outcomes for Canada in the TPP. We must now do the same with the TPP and use it with Mexico as leverage in the upcoming NAFTA renegotiations.

Why will the new trade minister not do the right thing and ensure that Canada enters NAFTA negotiations from a position of strength by ratifying the TPP?

[International Trade, June 2nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, since the U.S. withdrew, high-level TPP discussions have continued in Chile, here in Canada, Vietnam, and will happen next in July in Japan.

The message coming out of these meetings is always positive. The remaining countries will continue to work to bring the TPP into force by the end of this calendar year. Silence from Canada though. Japan and New Zealand have already ratified and Australia and Mexico are not very far behind. Japan has also said we will not get a better deal in the bilateral agreement than we have in the TPP.

When will our trade minister join our allies to bring a TPP into force here in Canada?

[Consular Affairs, June 1st, 2017]

It is just 15 months late, and they are finally getting around to meeting with Amy, Mr. Speaker. That is just not good enough. Frankly, Canadians deserve and expect a lot better from their government. The member opposite talked about meeting with Amy months ago, which never really happened. It was all a figment of his imagination.

The minister talks about following this file closely. She should be leading this file. She said three weeks ago that she was seized with this opportunity, but if that means rusted and immobile, she is absolutely right. They all have the credibility of a big yellow duck. When will the Prime Minister get involved and fix this?

[Consular Affairs, June 1st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has finally admitted what we knew all along, that the questionable detention of Canadian citizens, John Chang and Allison Lu, by China customs is a trade matter and should have been resolved months ago. Instead, Mr. Chang has been languishing in jail for 15 months, and the Prime Minister has done absolutely nothing to secure his release and safe return. It would take one phone call from the Prime Minister to his new BFFs in Beijing to resolve this. When will the Prime Minister pick up that phone and make the call? It is never too late to do the right thing.

[Business of Supply, June 1st, 2017]

That is not true.

[Consular Affairs, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, privacy has been out the window for the last 13 months.

The family and the Changs deserve a lot better from the government. They have been making application after application. Talking about this is a trade issue not a consular issue. They constantly get this consular issue dribble that really gets no results.

This is now a matter of timing. One week from today, John Chang faces a closed court in Shanghai that will decide his fate. He has had three visits in the past 13 months from consular officials. That is just not good enough. Canadians deserve and expect a lot better than this from their government when they get in trouble—

[Consular Affairs, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, for more than a year now Canadian citizens John Chang and his wife Allison Lu have been held in jail by China's general administration of customs. Their company, Lulu Island Winery in B.C., has successfully exported to China for some six years, so they know the system well. The arrest of Mr. Chang and Ms. Lu for a fabricated customs violation is an assault on their basic rights, a breach of China's international trade obligations, and China's own customs laws. This is clearly a trade issue, not a consular issue.

Why will the Prime Minister not intervene in this new era of the Canada-China relationship?