Trade  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. He has expressed a great deal of interest in this subject through his attendance in committee over recent months. Canada has four free trade agreements and one of them is with Israel. As a result of the signing of that free trade agreement, trade has increased by 19%.

Budget Implementation Act, 2001  Yes, in all of Atlantic Canada, as my Newfoundland colleague reminds me. The airports there are having foisted upon them this additional charge, this tax grab that will result, in my opinion, in deterring more travel at a time when we want to encourage economic activity, when we want to see airports able to provide a safe service.

Questions in the House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, picking up on the theme of democracy being a work in progress, under this administration there is surely a lot of work to be done when it comes to democracy. When it comes to cabinet confidentiality, the member is right. There are certain bodies of information that must be kept confidential and out of public knowledge and sphere.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I agree with the hon. member's last statement. When it comes to not keeping its promises the government has set a new high or perhaps a new low. The GST and free trade are classic examples of commitments that were made on the public record,usually in a pre-election mode, and then completely cast aside.

Telecommunications Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Thornhill. By November 30, of this year, Canada will have deposited an Instrument of Acceptance in Geneva signifying Canada's commitment to one of the most important trade agreements of the 21st century, the agreement on basic telecommunications.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon. member and the previous government speaker as they crowed about the ability of the finance minister to have slain the deficit. It is interesting to throw into the mix the $38 billion that was inherited by the Conservative government of the day and the effort that was made, the political capital that was spent in bringing in a deficit reduction tax like the GST and, of course, free trade.

Speech From The Throne  Madam Speaker, as I would say in your native language, evha risto and kali nehta to you as well. I heard the member of the Conservative Party talk about health care, education and the environment. I was just about to sign him up for the NDP because those are what we have been preaching about for years and years.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, as the House will recall, an act to regulate the interprovincial trade and importation for commercial purposes of certain manganese based substances, Bill C-29, received royal assent on April 25, 1997. The act came into force June 24. On April 14, Ethyl Corporation, the sole North American producer of MMT, filed a claim for damages under the investor stated dispute settlement provisions in chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Supply  In the past, the federal and provincial governments have entered into many agreements and passed many laws that have far more consequences on the majority of Canadians than will the Nisga'a treaty. Let us take the North American Free Trade, the original Free Trade Agreement or the Columbia River Treaty. None of these were subject to a referendum. Where referendums have been used in the past, they have been in respect of a single, or at least a relatively narrow set of issues.

Canadian Airline Industry  Symbols have a powerful impact on people's imaginations and the way they interact with one another. The Air Canada symbol helps us in world trade. It helps us in selling ourselves as a nation across the world. That may be small in numbers, but large in heart, large in expertise, large in much of what we have to offer to the world.

Trade  Mr. Speaker, tonight the Prime Minister will thumb his nose at the Canadian voters again when he accepts an honorary degree from Michigan State University. The university is using this occasion to celebrate the success of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1988, members will recall, in bitter debates across the country, the Liberals demonized the Conservative free trade initiative.

Patent Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his intervention. I know that both personally and in his duties here as a member of parliament and a former health critic, he has followed the issue consistently and has spoken out on the issue on numerous occasions. His question focuses on why people change their minds but more so on the partisan atmosphere we see here, which sometimes leads members in opposition to act irresponsibly, to go outside the bounds of constructive criticism or even sometimes warranted criticism.

Patent Act  I hear some chirping across the way. Heaven forbid that we put into the record the actual words spoken by the Minister of Industry, the minister of reversals, the minister of rat packers, who has now in his new reincarnation completely reversed himself. He has somersaulted 180° from where he was.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the Chamber to take part in this very important debate. I commend the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford again for his diligence and his perseverance in bringing this issue forward. As has been stated, the motion calls upon the House to consider the factors underlying and relating to the non-medical use of drugs in Canada, to make recommendations, to put this matter into the hands of an all party committee and to report within a year.

Summit Of The Americas  Mr. Speaker, I would say to my hon. colleague from the Bloc Quebecois that in my own personal view this is not really a talk about free trade. It is more a talk about the protection of investor rights. Would her party not agree that prior to any sort of profitability being discussed or the protection of investors or the movement of goods and services, that environment and human rights should be discussed?