Tracey Ramsey

[Canadian Heritage, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, our francophone culture is being threatened by the web giants that the Liberal government refuses to subject to the same rules as Canadian businesses. Our culture is also being threatened by certain free trade agreements. The Liberals like to brag about standing up for our culture in negotiations.

If that is true, then why is the TPP cultural exemption in a side letter and not in the main agreement?

[Request for Emergency Debate, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 52(2), I am proposing an emergency debate on the urgent situation of the possible future levy of duties on Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the United States.

It was to my great relief that Canada was exempted from this recent action. However, as this is only a temporary exemption, any future tariffs, if implemented, would have disastrous repercussions on the Canadian steel and aluminium industries and the thousands of workers in those sectors.

Since his election, President Donald Trump has ordered billions of dollars of tariffs on Canadian industries. Almost every major sector has been targeted by the current U.S. administration. In fact, I posed two questions to the Prime Minister today on this very subject.

The steel industry in Canada employs 22,000 workers directly and over 100,000 workers indirectly. Our aluminum industry employs 8,300 workers directly and over 20,000 indirectly. These are good-paying, family-supporting and community-supporting jobs across the country that we cannot afford to lose.

It is necessary for members of the House of Commons to have the time and opportunity to fully discuss not only the implications of future tariffs, but also to propose and debate remedies and solutions to this growing problem. We must have the opportunity to address the increasing amount of Canadian jobs and livelihoods that would be negatively impacted in all of our communities.

I would also like to note that there is no opposition day in the foreseeable future for the NDP. It should be taken into consideration that the next opposition day for the NDP will not be designated until March 28 at the very earliest, but in all likelihood it will not fall until after the Easter break. This situation is far too critical to wait for that date.

I believe, Mr. Speaker, that you would find strong support from all parties in the House for a full debate on this issue that will greatly impact our future.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for considering this request and, if granted, I respectfully ask that the debate take place this evening.

[International Trade, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, when will the Prime Minister get his head out of the sand? Just last week, President Trump bragged that he made up figures while talking to the Prime Minister about the supposed trade deficit the U.S. has with Canada, and the Prime Minister said that he has full confidence in the President's being straight with him.

Our Prime Minister is not being taken seriously by our largest trading partner and Canadians are worried. Does the Prime Minister still believe that the President is being straight with him? When will the Prime Minister be straight with Canadians and tell them exactly how he plans to protect their jobs?

[International Trade, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, while Canada is exempt for now from the U.S. President's global tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the President stated very clearly that he will use the threat of future tariffs to get what he wants in NAFTA renegotiations. Our steel and aluminum industries, forestry, aerospace, paper: what is next? Sixty-four billion dollars could be lost and half a million Canadian jobs are at risk, yet all the Prime Minister has done is pay lip service.

Canadians need to know how many more tariffs or threats of tariffs the government will allow before it takes action.

[International Trade, February 15th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, today we learn that the TPP text is still not ready, and the side letters will not be made public until the agreement is signed. The Liberals promised to be transparent on trade, but they continue to be silent on exactly how the TPP will affect our industries and workers.

Shockingly, we also learned that the Liberals' progressive trade agenda is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. This deal has no indigenous chapter, no gender chapter, and no improvements to the labour chapters.

For all their talk, what exactly do the Liberals think is progressive about the TPP?

[Canadian Heritage, February 14th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, today is another sad day for journalism. The Toronto Star has laid off over 50 people. The news media are undergoing unprecedented changes, yet the Minister of Canadian Heritage has not acted on any of the recommendations from either her commissioned report or the parliamentary committee report. Months have passed and job losses are a daily occurrence in the media.

How many consultations, reports, and recommendations will it take for the government to decide to do something, even to act on a single recommendation?

[Petitions, February 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present today a petition calling on the government to recognize the unique situation we are in with the renegotiation of NAFTA. The petitioners have some direct asks: remove ISDS provisions, eliminate the energy proportionality provisions, make significant improvements to enhance the enforceability of the agreements on labour and the environmental standards, and resist further patent extensions. There are nearly 100 signatories to this petition that I am proud to present today calling on the government for action on these important issues in NAFTA renegotiations.

[Business of Supply, February 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the member for bringing up his love of omnibus budget bills, and bringing Conservative tactics back to this House to make sure that the Liberals can ram through legislation. When it comes to omnibus budget bills, I understand that the member opposite supports that, because his government has actually participated in that more than the Conservative government did previously.

What I would like to talk about is where the Liberals have failed to act. It is interesting to me that we are talking about tax havens, and that was left out of the member's question. Talking about how we capture that money, and talking about tax fairness was left out.

Since our motion on March 8, 2017, the Liberals have not just failed to act, they have signed new tax information exchange agreements with Cook Island, Antigua, Barbuda, and Grenada. These agreements are an exchange for information from these countries that allowed Canadian companies to repatriate the income of their subsidiaries in these countries. In other words, the Liberal government just made tax evasion that was illegal, legal.

[Business of Supply, February 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe they do understand. To the Liberals, in particular, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, the idea of the middle class is someone over here, a group of people they know are out there. They are not necessarily people in their families, people who they interact with every day, or people who go to them with very serious issues that they are trying to overcome, such as poverty. This is the reality of Canadians.

The Liberals have assigned this $40,000-plus amount to the middle class. A report just came out that says the median income in Canada is around $33,000. The tax cut that Liberals claim they gave to those in the middle class was not really for the middle class in Canada, because there was absolutely no tax cut at $33,000 and under. Therefore, the most vulnerable in society have received no break from the government.

It is really New Democrats who continue, as we do today on this opposition motion day, to push the government to act in the interests of Canadians, so that we can move toward reducing inequality.

[Business of Supply, February 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that my colleague is putting forward New Democratic Party's argument of inequality that exists in our country. What I did not hear is what the Liberals are doing about that inequality.

In fact, what I see happening on the Liberal side is this flip-flop on stock option loopholes and tax havens. To me and other Canadians, this just shows that the Liberals are under the influence of very powerful lobbyists and corporations, and are not actually standing for the interests of Canadians, like New Democrats continue to do every single day in this House.

Therefore, I have a question for the member. Why does the Liberal government refuse to act, and not use this money to address the inequalities that he himself raises?