International Trade committee  Absolutely. In fact I sit on the steering committee as a representative for the Steelworkers Humanity Fund to talk about just that. Again, the law that came through the Senate is about reporting and it's voluntary. It does not include any of those penalties and that accountability that I was talking about, so it would be nice to see that.

International Trade committee  That has been our call. We would love to see it get pushed and the government could pick up these bills and make them happen quickly. That would be great.

International Trade committee  As I said in my remarks, I think that all the power lies with the corporation, so the countries and the workers lose out and don't have the ability to bring their own complaints forward. That is actually a victory that the steelworkers won here in Canada, to join other countries around the world where workers can bring forward their own complaints.

International Trade committee  Especially, as I said, seeing it being taken out of the USMCA as well as CETA, there are examples where we can remove that, so I think it should be removed from this agreement as well.

International Trade committee  I would absolutely agree. In fact, as I was saying again in my remarks earlier, there is no proof that ISDS improves the situation for workers or the economy. In fact, it usually does the opposite.

International Trade committee  Absolutely. I mean, some people call these tribunals pseudo-democratic, but I would argue that they're more anti-democratic. They remove the power from the people, and frankly even the elected governments, and put it all in the hands of the corporations.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. As I was saying, obviously, anything we can do to help improve the conditions for workers here in Canada or around the world is important. I outlined some of those ways we can do that within the trade agreement. Of course, if we can tweak anti-scab legislation a little bit to fix some of the things I think need to be improved within that legislation, like getting rid of an 18-month waiting period, for instance, and closing some of the loopholes, which I think remain still, that allow for some replacement workers, then, by all means, that is one way the government can ensure we're supporting workers—absolutely.

International Trade committee  Sure. I would say, again, to be clear, that we're actually not opposed to this trade deal. We have concerns, as I said, with the ISDS provisions in it, and I think those should be removed. However, overall, trade is an important part of building an economy and creating jobs, of course.

International Trade committee  It's the trade advantage that we're able to deliver, again, by having some of the lowest-emitting steel, aluminum and cement in the world. It's something we are very proud of and that our members are very proud to produce. I think Canada should promote that more. I think the greening of steel is something we have to be somewhat aware of and careful of sometimes.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely.

International Trade committee  I am sorry, but I will answer in English, because this is a subject I do not speak about often in one of the two official languages. I will say that, yes, I know there has been some movement and some talk around mandatory human rights and environment actions, and steelworkers support those as well.

International Trade committee  Further, in this treaty, states have no ability at all to file counterclaims against corporations. The entire process is only accessible to foreign investors. For example, from a worker's perspective, foreign investors can bring their own dispute directly to tribunals, but the labour chapter explicitly notes that workers are dependent on the state to bring claims forward to uphold their rights.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Through you, thank you to the clerk and all members of the committee for the opportunity to join you here today. The United Steelworkers Union is the largest private sector union in North America, with over 225,000 members in Canada and 850,000 members in North America in virtually every economic sector, including, for the purposes of this discussion, energy, potash, and steel.