International Trade  Mr. Speaker, forestry is a major industry in my riding of South Okanagan—West Kootenay, and tens of thousands of jobs in British Columbia are dependent on that sector. The last time this sector was hit with American tariffs, the industry was devastated. Did the Prime Minister s

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member a question I asked earlier, simply because I think the member's colleague might have misinterpreted what I was asking. It was about the fact that when we finished negotiations for this treaty, it happened concurrently with the Brexit vo

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, why do we need to have investor-state dispute mechanisms in these trade agreements? Clearly, and certainly in this agreement, there are several countries in the EU that are against these provisions that allow foreign corporations to sue Canadian governments, whether

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, in this speech, the member for Banff—Airdrie mentioned, as did the other member, the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement which we debated last week. Again, that is a trade agreement the NDP could get behind. However, we have some serious reservations about CETA, one

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his kind words about the Okanagan wine industry. That is an industry that has benefited from free trade. I wanted to ask this question of Liberal members today, but I see that in this last day of debate on this important legislat

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, as I say, Canada and Ukraine have a long-standing relationship. We want to protect Ukraine. We want to see it prosper and return to a peaceful state. There are many issues in and around Ukraine, especially with Russian aggression on its borders. Through mechanisms

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, without going into any details, the main provision in this trade agreement is that on environmental protections and standards, there is a commitment to not lower those standards. We would maintain standards where they are now instead of moving down to the lowest comm

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, again, one of the obvious things I and the rest of my colleagues in the NDP would like to see if NAFTA is opened for renegotiation is the elimination of the chapter 11 investor-state dispute mechanism. We see news reports of California companies suing Canada or a p

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to speak to Bill C-31, the legislation that would implement the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. As members may have heard, the NDP supports the bill, and I will be speaking in favour of it. First of all, I and the rest of my colleagues are very much

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, with all the talk of tariffs against softwood lumber, border taxes, and potential trade wars with the United States, I would just hope that the government would take this issue as an important opportunity to build some goodwill and commence renegotiation of this trea

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, my original question was precipitated by a visit to my office by local mayors from my riding. They were concerned that the Columbia River Treaty needed to be renegotiated, that their communities and many others in the region have spent a great deal of effort consulti

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Speaker, yes, I obviously think it is a good idea for governments to work together, to have a plan, to institute that plan, and to carry it out as expeditiously as possible. We have heard all the wonderful things that Albertans stand for and what they are good at. I have had

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Speaker, as an ecologist, I would challenge the statement. If they have an economy that is brought to its knees by the change in price of one commodity, that is not a very diverse economy. It may be doing lots of different things, but it is reliant solely on one product. That

Job Losses in the Energy Sector  Mr. Speaker, the energy sector has long been an important source of jobs and wealth in Canada, and will continue to play that role for years to come. The oil industry is central to that sector. As we all know, the reason for this debate is that there has been in a serious downtur

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, many Canadians are deeply concerned over the investor court provisions in trade deals, which give foreign corporations more rights than those enjoyed by Canadian companies or ordinary Canadians. Does the member believe that the Canadian court system is not equipped