Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to start debate, and I am also pleased to announce that I will be sharing my time with the member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord.
Canada needs a government that understands how to build an open economy, how to build an economy, how to create jobs and how to create powerful paycheques to ensure that we have economic growth, not only for our nation, but also for our provinces, our regions and our citizens.
The book Why Nations Fail, which is, by the way, the finance minister's favourite book, emphasizes that countries prosper when they foster open economic systems that create opportunities for growth and provide incentives for people to save, innovate and invest. When we look at Canada right now and the challenges Canadians have, we see that they are losing those opportunities and those opportunities are going south.
We can talk about the carbon tax, which is set to increase again on April 1. It punishes our farmers and our businesses. We can talk about a housing crisis, which is the largest in the history of this country, through which we have seen rents double, mortgage payments double, and the amount needed for a down payment double. We talk about debt and a budget. We are already talking about increased deficits coming to the budget, if we ever see one, for 2025.
What does that mean? It has been proven over the last four years that we have increased the debt. We have increased spending from an ever-increasing, growing government. We have high inflation, and high inflation adds cost, the invisible tax, to every Canadian.
An open economy is not just about trade. It is about democracy. A strong democracy promotes freedom, transparency and fairness, not only within our borders, but also for those we engage with around the world through our trading agreements. The trade agreements we have in Canada were all set up by the previous government. The European Union trade agreement was set up by Stephen Harper. When we look at the TPP, which became the CPTPP, it was set up by Stephen Harper. The Liberal government, when it came into power, got to sign those agreements, but they were agreements set in stone based on our shared democracy, our shared freedom and those values.
Over the last nine years, we have seen those values erode, and we have seen certain parts of our trading relationships result in forced labour. There are forced labour camps that are forcing citizens into camps, into gruelling conditions, and those products are ending up on Canadian shores. When we look at our trade and our democracy, we see that Canada is a steward for freedom. We need to ensure that we have democracy and freedom here at home and in nations abroad. We can use the trading relationships we have with nations to ensure we force the values that we find important. I am going to walk members through a couple of stats on this.
In China, reports indicate that over three million innocent Uyghurs are currently detained in concentration camps, where they face indoctrination, forced labour and torture in various degrees. Forced labour is the work or service of any person under the threat of penalty for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily. It is estimated that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of East Turkestan to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019.
I am going to walk members through a day in a labour camp because it is really important for Canadians to understand their stories of survival and resilience. Imagine someone being abruptly taken from their home, their family and their life, accused of crimes they did not commit or simply targeted because of their ethnicity or beliefs. This is the reality for countless individuals detained in forced labour camps across the world, particularly in regions like Xinjiang, China, where Uyghurs and other minorities endure unimaginable hardships.
A person arrives at a sprawling facility surrounded by high walls, watchtowers and armed guards. There is no trial and no lawyer. There is just an accusation. Their identity as a Uyghur, a Turkic Muslim, or a member of another minority group is enough to condemn them. Upon arrival, they are stripped of their belongings, including any dignity. Uniforms replace their clothes, and their name is replaced by a number.
Each day begins before sunrise with roll calls and chants praising the government. After that, the work begins. For many, this means long hours in poorly ventilated workshops or factories producing textiles, electronics or even solar panels for export. Other people are sent to agricultural fields, where they pick cotton under the scorching sun for 12 to 16 hours a day, with minimal breaks.
Conditions are gruelling. There are no safety measures, and injuries are common. A cut from factory machinery or a sprain in the field is not treated. People are expected to work through the pain. Malnutrition is rampant, with meals consisting of watery soup, a piece of bread and occasionally some rice. Hunger gnaws at them constantly, sapping their energy and their spirit.
There is punishment. Stepping out, even unintentionally, results in severe punishment. Some are beaten for slowing down or for failing to meet their quotas.
Beyond forced labour, detainees are subject to indoctrination, including hours of mandatory classes teaching loyalty to the state and to its leaders, and denouncing religion or cultural practices. Uyghur detainees are often forced to denounce Islam, shave their beards or eat pork as signs of progress, and the end never comes. There is no clear end.
For those listening at home, that is the reality of forced labour, and the fact is that Canada, to this point, has not announced or brought to Parliament any legislation to disallow this kind of treatment. That allows these products to end up on Canadian shores.
The products are many. I will list some of the products that we are bringing to Canada. There are textiles, electronics, agricultural products, cotton, artificial sweeteners, Christmas decorations, coal, footwear, garments, gloves, hair products, nails, toys and tomato products. These are the products coming in, and the U.S. Department of Labor has announced other products that it is including, such as steel, aluminum and seafood.
Canada is not the nation it needs to be. Our failure to address forced labour in our supply chains is both a moral and an economic failure. The United States has taken decisive action to combat forced labour, and despite clear evidence of forced labour in global supply chains, Canada has done little more than pay lip service. The U.S. has banned products tied to forced labour, especially from China, while Canada allows these goods into our markets.
In February 2021, the House of Commons voted 266-0 to recognize China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims as genocide. One would think that was all of Parliament, but no, the Prime Minister and his cabinet abstained from the vote, including the member for Waterloo, who was just standing up in the House. They abstained from the vote and said that they did not have enough information. There is enough information to show that this is inhumane treatment and what the toll has been, yet Canada stands talking about being a steward of trade and democracy in the world, but has, so far, not run legislation to outlaw this forced labour being part of trade and included in our supply lines.
America took the lead. In 2020, when the U.S. enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, blocking imports tied to human rights abuses in China, the legislation set a global standard, showing that trade must align with ethical practices. I will list a couple of instances where this fell through the cracks in Canada.
In November 2021, the Canada Border Services Agency intercepted a shipment of women's and children's clothing suspected to have links to forced labour. In January 2021, at least 18 Canadian companies imported PPE from Top Glove, a Malaysian manufacturer banned by the U.S. over forced labour concerns. This brings me to our main point. When it comes to Canada not being aligned with other nations, it is going to affect our trading relationships, and our trading relationship with the Americans is the worst of all at present.
This issue and others have misaligned us from the world's largest, and our number one, trading partner. When Stephen Harper was in power, we were the U.S.'s number one trading partner, and now we are the third trading partner for the Americans. Mexico is number one. Canada is number three. That is because of the lack of trade relationships and partnerships that this government has, but most importantly, it is because the Liberals fail to link freedom and democracy with trade and with the growing threat of slave labour in China and other nations. We have to fix that, and a Conservative government would ensure that we do great trade with good nations, that we do it ethically and responsibly, and that we outlaw slave labour from nations such as China.
