Madam Speaker, I have spoken on other free trade agreements in the past. This will not be a complete repeat but what has happened is that the government has made the same mistakes again.
I will speak in two parts. In the first part, I will voice my concerns about this agreement, and, in the second part, I will talk about what a fair trade agreement should look like and what would be acceptable.
I will echo the hon. member's remarks. Canada is a trading nation. We need trade to survive, as does every other nation on this planet. Trade is essential. We believe in trade but we believe more than anything in fair trade. We believe agreements can be struck that reflect the values I will talk about right now as I speak to the concerns I have.
It seems that the Conservative government is engaging in NAFTA style trade agreements and, in this particular case, with a country that is also an offshore banking centre and that acts as a platform for multinationals and a conduit for opaque banking activities and tax evasion.
It is not just me who thinks that but also a Democrat congressman in the United States. I will quote just a small part from a letter he has written. It reads:
Panama’s industrial policy is premised on obtaining a comparative advantage by banning taxation of foreign corporations, hiding tax liabilities and transactions behind banking secrecy rules and the ease with which U.S. and other firms can create unregulated subsidiaries. According to the State Department, Panama has over 350,000 foreign-registered companies.
Michael Michaud is the congressman who made those remarks.
It looks as if the Canadian government is building a so-called free trade platform that would provide front corporations with additional powers and incentives and give them the right to challenge Canadian regulations and standards, and shape trade to serve their needs, not necessarily the needs that are in the public interest.
It seems that we are making it easier for Canadian foreign companies to move to Panama, to flout Canadian labour laws and to pay their workers in Panama, which, I think, the average wage at the moment is about $2 an hour, and not have to pay for pensions, benefits and sick days.
Canadian law states that workers enjoy certain minimum workplace safety laws and benefits. Corporations in Panama do not have any of these.
As with the other free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru, appended outside of those agreements, outside of the main text, are labour co-operation agreements. We have heard people speak about those this morning.
The problem with the agreement, as it was in the other free trade agreements, is that it is an agreement without any vigorous enforcement mechanism. The same template was used in the Canada-Colombia and the Canada-Peru agreements. The labour side agreement does not deliver an effective mechanism for the protection of labour rights.
I will say what I said when I spoke on the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement. If the labour co-operation agreement is so important, why is it a side agreement? Why is it not in the main body of the agreement? If it is in the main body of the agreement, then there would be a vigorous enforcement mechanism. Again, it is a side deal.
The side agreement on the environment is the same. There is no effective mechanism to force Canada or Panama to respect environmental rights. The agreement commits both countries to pursue environmental co-operation and to work to improve their environmental laws and policies but it can only ask both parties to enforce their laws. That is why it has been put into a side agreement, at least I assume that is why. Why is it not in the main body of the free trade agreement?
I am also concerned as to why the Conservative government and the Liberal Party are in such a rush? Why are they in such a rush to move Canadian jobs overseas? Why are they in such a rush to enhance the capacity of multinational corporations to evade taxes? Why are they in such a rush to allow these corporations to leverage additional power over Canada's government and Parliament?
We heard earlier today various speakers in the debate talk about Panama, which is regarded as a tax haven by the OECD. In the last 24 hours, we have heard lots of news nationally about this very same issue.
In 2008, Panama was one of 11 countries that did not have a tax information exchange agreement signed or in force. Panama is one of three states that would not share banking information for any tax information exchange purpose at all. Panama does, however, have a bilateral agreement with the U.S. called the mutual legal assistance treaty to which Panama will share some information. Tax offences are not covered by the treaty. Tax information sharing could occur for a criminal offence, though, such as drug trafficking. Therefore, there is a possibility to move forward on this particular issue and this agreement could have done that, but it did not.
The OECD has blacklisted Panama since 2000. I did not want to say anything about this but Panama has not to date substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standards to which it had committed itself. So nothing has been moved on that front. This free trade agreement would have been a wonderful opportunity for the Government of Canada to make that happen.
Today, in 2010, I find it interesting that the Colombian banking system retains a prominent role in the Panamanian banking system. We can draw our own conclusions from that. Again, it is on the NAFTA model and, as everybody knows, we have had trouble with NAFTA and softwood lumber.
I just want to say a little bit about that. Bilateral trade deals generally go against GATT and multilateralism. The International Monetary Fund has been complaining about the proliferation of bilateral trade agreements, which would spell a return to protectionism and trade wars between trading blocs, so it is concerned.
The Canada-Panama trade deal is a NAFTA-like agreement. It is the same template which overrides the democratic rule of Parliament and equalizes or gives precedence to corporate rights over human rights. All of the text of the accord is not yet available. The free trade agreement would very likely produce chapter 11-type issues, what has been proven to be an inadequate dispute resolution mechanism that can easily be abused by the dominant partner. I draw the attention of the House to softwood lumber, which is a good example.
The Canada-Panama agreement is another agreement, which, I guess we could say, is marginally improved on the Bush-style approach to trade. However, it would still put big business before people, it has no effective enforcement of human rights and it pays lip service to environmental protection without any real tough measures or any dispute resolution mechanisms.
We have an opportunity in free trade agreements to help the poorest of the poor. One of the big worries we hear bandied about is micro-financing. The trouble with micro-financing, as we talk about it now, is that it does not reach the poorest of the poor. When I say poorest of the poor I mean those who live on less than $1.25 a day. Those are the poorest of the poor on our planet. There are models that have worked when we talk about micro-financing. We can make it work for those people. We can make it work for housing, education and a whole host of other things that are so important to the survival of families and the ability for families to move ahead.
Free trade agreements are exactly the same. There is an opportunity to make all of those good things happen. However, this agreement does not do that. Panama, by the way, is not a major trading partner of Canada. It is less than 1%, which makes it an interesting choice for a free trade agreement. Because of the smallness of our trade, it has to send up some red flags and we have to wonder why. Are there not other countries that would be much better opportunities for Canada in terms of exporting and trade agreements?
Another concern I have is that we have yet another trade deal negotiated in record time and, because it was done in record time, I wonder if there has there been full consultation with environmental groups, trade unions, civil society and citizens of the countries? A fair and sustainable trade deal would not just address the needs for business but also the needs of working families and the environment.
The trade deal does not provide investors and labour with a level playing field. While under chapter 11 investors have the right to seek binding arbitration that they can pursue independently, a trade union in Panama does not get to pursue a case to arbitration. It could file a complaint that would lead to an investigation and possibly a report, but it is up to the government to seek remedies and damages. Experience with our past NAFTA templates shows that it is unwilling to do this. Empirical evidence strongly suggests that the minister of the day will not pursue these matters.
The trade agreement includes enforceable protections of patents, trademarks and copyrights but no meaningful protection of workers and no meaningful protection of the environment.
What would a fair trade policy look like? When we stand in the House we reaffirm our vision for a fair trade policy that puts the pursuit of social justice, strong public sector social programs and the elimination of poverty at the heart of any affected trade policy. Canada's trade policy should be based on the principles of fair, sustainable and equitable trade, trade that builds partnerships, partnerships with other countries that support the principles of social justice and human rights, while also expanding business opportunities.
The federal government should stop exclusively pursuing the NAFTA model at the expense of all the other alternatives, because there are alternatives. It should invest in other avenues of growth, including, above all, a vigorous trade promotion strategy that builds the Canadian brand abroad along the lines of the Australian experience, for example.
It is shocking to hear that the European Union spends in excess of 500 times more than Canada in promoting its wine industries. There may be a greater volume of wine in European countries, but 500 times more towards promotion than Canada?
There is an alternative and there is a better form of trading relationship that can be established with Panama or any other country, one with an overall fair trade policy that includes the following:
First, it should provide a comprehensive common sense impact assessment on all international agreements that demonstrates that trade deals Canada negotiates are beneficial to Canadian families, workers and industries. The government should never sign a trade deal that would lead to a net job loss.
Second, it should ensure that the trade agreements Canada negotiates support Canada's sovereignty and freedom to chart its own policy, support our ability to be a competitive force on the world stage, and support the principles of a multilateral fair trade system.
Third, by fundamental principle, all trade agreements must promote and protect human rights by prohibiting the import, export or sale in Canada of any product that is deemed to have been created under sweatshop conditions, forced labour or other conditions that are not in accordance with fundamental international labour standards and human rights.
Fourth, by fundamental principle, all trade agreements should respect sustainable development and the integrity of all ecosystems. That is straightforward. I do not think anybody in the House would disagree with these things.
Fifth, at any time the Government of Canada signs a free trade agreement, the decision to proceed with enabling legislation should be subject to a binding vote on whether to accept the terms of the agreement. The current system, which consists of tabling FTAs in the House for a period of 21 sitting days prior to ratification, is neither mandatory nor does it bind the government to a decision of the House.
The minister should be required to develop fair and sustainable trade-related performance indicators in concert with provinces and territories. Statistics Canada could collect the information and develop with the finance department new benchmarks for the evaluation of present and future trade agreements.
Performance indicators would measure the impact of bilateral trade agreements on the qualify of life, to include, in addition to detailed bilateral trade figures, an assessment of their effects on things such as employment, including quality of employment; impact on wage levels and core labour standards; things such as prices and market concentration, including the effects of currency manipulation; the effects on public health, including an assessment of the impact of intellectual property rights on drug prices, for example; environmental standards; human rights standards; the levels and types of investment by industry; economic diversification; food self-sufficiency; food safety standards; consumer safety; the effect on farms and farmers and the number of farms; access to essential services; the fiscal system; and intellectual property and copyright.
I have just outlined the concerns I have about this free trade agreement and what a fair trade agreement would look like. I welcome questions from my colleagues.
