International Trade  Mr. Speaker, the NDP is opposed to incompetence. Only the Liberal Party is buying the Conservatives' explanation here. Maybe the government is delaying because the FIPA allows Chinese companies to sue Canada in unaccountable tribunals, holding hearings in secret; or because it a

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, the Canada-China FIPA ties the hands of Canadian governments, exposes taxpayers to huge liabilities, and fails to effectively help Canadian investors break into China's market. Now, by delaying approval without any explanation, Conservatives are creating confusion an

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member claims that the current Conservative government has made trade a key component of its economic policy. If that is the case, it is a miserable failure. When the Conservatives took power in 2006, the current account situation was that it inherited a su

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, Conservative incompetence on this file is breeding uncertainty and chaos in the foreign investment community. Today we have another report detailing how the Conservatives' failure to spell out clear rules on foreign takeovers is scaring off investment. Also, with the

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts. The truth is that article 33 of this FIPA does provide a compromised and weak provision in Canada's ability to protect the environment. However, what is very interesting abou

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to draw my hon. colleague's attention to whether or not this agreement really does achieve reciprocity for Canadian investors. I am going to refer to article 8 of the FIPA, section 2, where it specifically exempts the Most Favoured Nation treatment for Canadia

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the spirit behind my hon. colleague's amendment, we will not consent to that amendment. My hon. colleague knows that the New Democrats put forth a motion to have this matter brought before the Standing Committee on International Trade. It was rejec

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, again, the hon. member for Malpeque and the New Democrats have been focusing on the government's disastrous trade record for the last six years. The parliamentary secretary was just attempting, very weakly, to defend what is an abysmal trade deficit. We went from a $

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, a government that does not consult is a poor government. A government that does not listen is an incompetent government. A government that misleads Canadians is a dangerous government. All three of those apply to the Conservative government. My hon. colleague talked

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for bringing up what I think is a very special consideration about this FIPA. She is quite right. What we are talking about here are not just normal corporations as we understand them in the western legal tradition. We are talki

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I very much enjoy working with the hon. member for Malpeque on the trade committee as well. I must say I am disappointed to hear that the Liberal Party will not support the motion, though. All the motion says is that the Government of Canada should inform the Governm

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have said before that the Conservative government's trade policies are incoherent, and we just saw an example. Now, I think the hon. member is arguing for increasing tariffs on China, and 72 other countries. I would have thought that the Conservative government's t

Business of Supply  moved: That, in the opinion of this House, the government should inform the Government of the People's Republic of China, that it will not ratify the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to move a motion on behalf of t

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, in 2015 Canadians look forward to rejecting the premise of the government. Let me clarify this for the hon. member. The fact is, Canada already has one of the strongest patent protection regimes in the world. There is no justification for acceding to European demand

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there are a number of issues on which Canadians are often ahead of politicians. I was immigration critic for a year and heard a lot from Canadians across this country about what they would like to see in a temporary foreign worker program. It is quite obvious Canadia