Madam Chair, I would like to flip over and talk about steel. I would like to know if the minister has discussed the unfair trade practice of Chinese steel dumping in Canada.
House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2021, with 32% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, I would like to flip over and talk about steel. I would like to know if the minister has discussed the unfair trade practice of Chinese steel dumping in Canada.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, my next question has to do with softwood lumber. Jobs losses are starting and workers' paycheques are being slashed and their hours being cut in Canada already. What is the cabinet's plan to support Canadian softwood lumber workers and communities?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, many communities, including my own, are very concerned about the thickening of the Canada-U.S. border. Canadians know the importance of efficient, secure trade at the border because so many thousands of jobs depend on it, both here and in the U.S.
We also know that border infrastructure is woefully inadequate. I am very pleased that a new bridge is on track for my region of Windsor Essex. Communities across Canada are crying out for a better border infrastructure. What are the government's plans to improve border infrastructure?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, labour mobility is obviously a huge concern in my riding of Essex. We are down on the border. A lot of people who come from our region work and live in the U.S. What would the minister want to see happen with labour mobility in NAFTA renegotiations?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, that was my next question, so I will go back to the previous question.
This dispute resolution in chapter 11 is a system that has worked against Canada's interests for the past 20-plus years. Will the government ask for chapter 11 to be revisited, with the goal of removing it entirely from NAFTA?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, I would like to read a quote from Daniel Ujczo, with the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance, who appeared before the trade committee on May 4 of this year. He stated:
...I think chapter 11 has no place in a new NAFTA. It doesn't make any sense for Canadians or the United States to have that. That was put in there for the Mexicans, no question about that. Reasonable minds can also disagree, or agree, on chapter 19.
Will the government ask for chapter 11 to be revisited, with the goal of removing it entirely from NAFTA?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, NAFTA includes an energy proportionality clause that requires Canada to guarantee U.S. access to our energy resources in perpetuity. If Canada does not negotiate this clause out of NAFTA, how could it impact on Canada's ability to meet our Paris climate commitments?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, will the minister push for NAFTA's labour and environment side agreements to be brought into the main agreement, yes or no?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, I will move on to trade-related questions on NAFTA.
In a recent editorial, Ed Broadbent made the case that human rights should be at the forefront of a new NAFTA. He wrote:
While job losses and the shift of income from wages to profits have been in part due to technological change, the latest report of the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook notes that global competition has also [contributed].... Together with the decline of unions, such competition has contributed to the marked rise in inequality within most countries around the world.
Does the minister agree that human rights, including environmental and labour rights, should be at the centre of trade deals, yes or no?
Business of Supply May 17th, 2017
Madam Chair, the development finance institute will be owned by Export and Development Canada, and it suggests that the parliamentary budget officer will have no oversight of the DFI. Is this the case?