Finance committee  --and maybe because I said it in French, you didn't understand it.

Finance committee  Basically, my point--

International Trade committee  Good afternoon. My name is Pierre Laliberté and I represent the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec. We thank you for giving us this opportunity to express our views. As you undoubtedly know, we represent 550,000 workers in Quebec in nearly all fields, be it t

International Trade committee  Just to give you an example that I think does reflect a little bit, Industry Canada did a study a few years ago that tried to establish the impact of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. And they came up with controlling for exchange rates and the growth rates and all of those t

International Trade committee  I did look at the study that came out of the environmental assessment and I also looked at the CAW study. The problem with any such studies is that they are mathematical exercises.

International Trade committee  In one month in Quebec, we've lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs. I might well believe the CAW's assessment, because it's not that outlandish. I think the key here for us is really--and this is a problem with the agreement--what sorts of jobs we are creating for ourselves. If you l

International Trade committee  The same is true for us. As I said at the outset, we would have liked to have seen a new type of agreement, but also a new type of management applied to these agreements. Indeed, when the previous government was in power, the process was essentially the same. Now, the same proces

International Trade committee  With your permission, I would like to add something. With regard to the rules about public procurement, you talk about a level playing field and transparency. For our part, we also ask that the rights of workers be taken into consideration explicitly. The trading partners with wh

International Trade committee  No sectoral study has been conducted, except in the case of the Canadian auto workers. That sector is located mainly in Ontario. The impact for Quebec would not be as significant as it would be for the auto parts sector. The people from that union to whom we talk anticipate rathe

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  As a proportion of the total.

International Trade committee  If I may add, this is really it. When people talk about the U.S.-Korea deal as a done deal, it's not—and you'd probably know better than I the political situation in that country. I think it may well be the case that the deal will not come to pass, and that will give us a respite

International Trade committee  Of course, there is always opportunity. Your job as a parliamentarian is to weigh all the opportunities and losses that are likely to happen. Whenever we talk about natural resources, these are boom and bust industries. The fact of the matter is that we know we have finite resou

International Trade committee  I would not sign. I would do what Mr. MacPherson suggested, which is to go to the stakeholders and do the review that should have been done prior to engaging in the negotiation. I think Mr. Shipley said we're going to do what's best for Canadians. I think you need to assess tho

Finance committee  Good afternoon. Thank you for this invitation. It was significant enough for us to brave the storm and travel here today. Obviously, this is not the first time we are appearing before you, and there is a feeling of déjà vu. That in itself is not necessarily good news. To summari