Mr. Speaker, it boggles the mind how the Liberal government could enter into a trade agreement with a country or think that it was possible to enter into a trade agreement with a country while that country was still imposing illegal trade tariffs on our steel and aluminum. Those illegal tariffs already threatened thousands of jobs. Thousands of jobs were already put at risk for the duration of those illegal tariffs.
I want to acknowledge the hard work of the New Democrats and the United Steelworkers whose members fought so hard to remove those tariffs. Because of the pressure applied by all those champions, the government finally understood this was something that needed to be done and moved to get those tariffs removed. I particularly want to acknowledge our labour critic and our trade critic who worked so hard on that file.
The steel and aluminum tariffs must be lifted. They have already had negative impacts on Canadian industry.
Now we are faced with a major question. There is an agreement on the table. In the United States, the U.S. Congress is working on improving that deal. If attempts are being made to improve the deal for working people, why would the government rush ahead and ratify it? When we know this deal will not even be in a position to be signed, because of the signs we are receiving from the U.S. Congress, it makes no sense to rush ahead with a time allocated motion to ratify something when work is already being done.
The Liberals like to bring forward a number of quotes, saying that this is what needs to be done. Let me read a quote from the USW International president, Leo Gerard. He says that the agreement must ensure stronger enforceable labour and environmental measures. “Until you give the ability to have labour law reforms, and to have it enforced in Mexico, we're not going to be out supporting a trade deal.”
That is from one of the major players in the states, saying it will not to be supporting this deal unless there is some enforcement.
Let us look at the four major concerns.
One is the labour condition. Our Canadian workers can compete with anyone in the world if there are fair and level playing fields imposed. We also need to have protection for the environment. If Canadian workers have to work in a context, rightly so, where we protect the environment, but compete with a jurisdiction where those protections are not in place, it creates an unlevel playing field.
The bill would drive up the cost of medication. At a time when more and more people are relying on medication, at a time when it is out of grasp for so many Canadians and millions of Canadians cannot afford medication, it makes no sense to have a trade deal that will drive up the cost of medication. That is another problem.
Covering all these issues is enforceability. There is some language in the bill, but there is no concrete guarantee that it can be enforced. Therefore, enforceability is a concern.
All of these concerns are being raised in the U.S. Congress right now. They are being negotiated and worked on right now. Why would we ratify a deal when four outstanding key elements are being worked on and improved?
That is the fundamental issue for us. Our priority is jobs in Canada. We want to protect jobs in Canada and the environment. We are not convinced that this agreement will allow us to do both. What is more, it risks increasing drug costs, which will have an extremely adverse impact on Canadians.
We are calling on the Liberal government and the Prime Minister not rush this bill ahead.
United Steelworkers' national director, Ken Neumann, said that it did not support a rush to ratify the USMCA while its steel markets remained susceptible to foreign dumping and illegally traded products and, by extension, the threat of renewed U.S. tariffs, that Canada continued to stand alone in failing to protect its key industries and that the federal government must implement strong measures to protect its markets and defend Canadian jobs and communities.
These concerns are outstanding. Without having addressed them, we should not be rushing ahead. We should take the time to improve the deal. We should support the efforts being made right now in the U.S. Congress to improve it. Improving this deal and ensuring there is enforceability, labour rights, environmental rights and protection against the cost of drugs from going up will help Canadians, Canadian workers and will save jobs.
The New Democrats believe in saving Canadian jobs and working to ensure the environment and workers are protected and the cost of medication is not out of reach.
Once again, our priority is to defend Canadian jobs and the environment. We are demanding that the government let American politicians continue improving the agreement to help out ordinary folks, workers and the planet.
I hope the Liberal government understands its job is not to do the bidding of Mr. Trump. Its job is not to rush ahead because Mr. Trump has requested it. Its job is to defend the workers in Canada, Canadian jobs, the environment and ensure people can afford the medication they need. That is its priority, not getting an award or trophy showing it has signed another agreement. It has to be a fair and good agreement for Canada. As it stands, there is no reason to rush ahead with this. We oppose this idea of rushing ahead. We need to improve this deal.
