International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to respond to some of the comments I have heard this morning, as a citizen.

International Trade committee  My name is Pierre Yves Serinet and, as a citizen, I would like to respond to some of the comments made this morning about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. I first want to point out that Mr. Lebel is thumping his chest over the Conservative government's great transparency

International Trade committee  Some elements would have to be radically amended, and we could participate in the discussion of the aspects to be changed. For one thing, I think that the entire system of excessive protection granted to foreign multinationals is particularly an issue to be raised.

International Trade committee  I can answer that, though. We are exchanging opinions. You know that we already have trade agreements. We have agreements with Chile, with Mexico, with Peru, with Singapore...

International Trade committee  No, I'm sorry. Those agreements are already in place. You know that we have now been operating under the NAFTA rules for 25 years. The United States is our biggest partner. The countries I just mentioned already cover 76 per cent of the market. For the rest, there are Vietnam, N

International Trade committee  We have to acknowledge that, over the last two years, in the manufacturing sector, the Canadian and Quebec economies, among others, have had problems. This is confirmed by the trade deficits. As I was saying earlier, for four years out of six, we have had a trade deficit. The TP

International Trade committee  We have to give ourselves some latitude when it comes to industrial policy. We have to reserve a right to regulate, a right that the TPP takes away, or remove the investor-state mechanism in the agreement in its entirety. It cannot just be given a new coat of paint. We also have

International Trade committee  What I find interesting in the discussion is that there are calls for an active policy, an industrial policy and innovation, but that does not have very much to do with trade agreements, given that the markets are already open. In the last ten years, under the Conservatives, ther

International Trade committee  Yes, of course. I am going to repeat what I said. Already, 97 per cent of the markets are open. We are told that this agreement will give us an opportunity to access markets, but this is false. In reality, a system of rules is being put forward that favours the commercial, trans

International Trade committee  I will be brief. This agreement ties governments' hands when it comes to environmental policy. We know the Liberal government wants to be very active on that issue. However, there are several mechanisms that limit governments' ability to propose effective environmental measures.

International Trade committee  I will conclude by saying that we absolutely have to change our way of thinking, look at the dynamic, and acknowledge that we have a structural problem in terms of the economy, that we have had trade deficits for the last six years, focusing the economy on raw resources under the

International Trade committee  Good morning. The Réseau québécois sur l'intégration continentale is a broad network in Quebec that has been in existence and working on free trade agreements for 30 years. It brings together the trade unions movement, the women's movement, the student movement, the grassroots c