Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I again want to applaud the remarks made by my colleague, who has done a tremendous amount of good work in this file and on this bill and who has critiqued it on its merits and looked at some of the issues and terms that have been presented with respect to the flaws in the bill.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if a negotiation process is started that does not mean a flawed deal has to be signed or negotiated. The reason I say this is if we take for example the softwood lumber agreement, the Conservatives made a promise in their platform that they would collect all the duty.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there is no denying that there is a great deal of disappointment on the part of the Liberal Party with respect to the fact that the Bloc supported the softwood lumber agreement. It was a flawed agreement and a flawed process. This is something that we have said from day one.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Davenport. Today's motion is very important. I am glad that it has been brought forth to the House. The motion indicates: “That, in the opinion of the House, the government should immediately establish a series of measures to help the manufacturing and forestry sectors hard hit by the rising dollar and increased competition”.

Lumber Industry  Mr. Speaker, we recently learned that Nova Scotia is poised to become the latest victim in the flawed softwood lumber agreement. It was bad enough that the Conservative government left $1 billion in the hands of the U.S. government and its lobbyists. It was bad enough that it negotiated higher duties and quotas for Canadian companies.

Lumber Industry  Mr. Speaker, we cannot trust the minister and we cannot trust the government. We have an industry in crisis and thousands of jobs on the line and the minister decided to leave $1 billion with the United States. In the absence of federal leadership, any provincial government that tries to work with the forestry industry has come to the harsh realization that it needs to vet its forestry policies with Washington.

Automobile Industry  Mr. Speaker, our auto industry is very concerned that the Conservative government is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with South Korea. Based on the government's track record on the softwood sellout, the industry has every right to be concerned. There are numerous reports which indicate that thousands of auto sector jobs will be lost.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, I guess it is a bit of jet lag there because we did not support the softwood lumber agreement. The Minister of International Trade is so desperate to defend his flawed deal that he is pressuring Canadian industry to comply with new U.S. demands. I guess leaving $1 billion on the table, implementing a quota system and throwing out all of our past legal victories at NAFTA and the WTO were not enough.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. trade representative sent a letter in March requesting consultations on the softwood lumber agreement. Supposedly, consultations were held and yet the issue has not been resolved. Due to the government's preference for secrecy and withholding the truth, our softwood lumber industry remains in the dark about the results of these consultations.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the member has talked passionately, and I have worked in committee with this member as well, about his party's position on water diversion and bulk water exports, and I think there is unanimity among our party members as well. However, in his comments he did not specifically mention a discussion that was touched on earlier.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the member's question is very clear-cut. Yes, we did divert a bit by starting to talk about the softwood lumber agreement, and understandably so because it is a very important issue, but nevertheless this report clearly outlines in very succinct fashion what the issue is here.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the enthusiasm and the energy of my colleague, but I remind him that we opposed the softwood lumber sellout. We opposed it, and he should be made aware of that. When we stood in the House, we opposed it. We understood that it was a bad deal. It was a bad deal for Canada and it was a bad deal across the board.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments made by the hon. member. The parliamentary secretary has a couple of portfolios that he manages, so he has a lot on his plate. I will very quickly touch upon the softwood lumber agreement to which he alluded. Then I will answer his question with respect to my leader's remarks.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak in this very important debate on the ninth report, which is a very straightforward report with a very straightforward recommendation. I will talk about two components of the report and the first component reads: Whereas Canada’s water resources must be protected; Whereas a simple agreement by exchange of letters among the governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico specifying that water is not covered by NAFTA must be respected by international tribunals as if it were an integral part of NAFTA; That is very straightforward.

Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act  Mr. Speaker, the member for Mississauga South raises a very important issue. Today our country generates a surplus, which is respected by the international community for sound fiscal management. However, if we were to look back to 1993, our country had lost the confidence of the world and was beginning to lose the confidence of the Canadian public.