43rd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION House of Commons Debates Official Report (Hansard) VOLUME 149 NUMBER 013 Monday, February 3, 2020 Speaker: The Honourable Anthony Rota CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 793 HOUSE OF COMMONS Monday, February 3, 2020 The House met at 11 a.m. is as a modernization of the free trade agreement. This is something that is really good for workers, businesses and communities across our country. Prayer We need to recognize that Canada is very much dependent on ● (1105) trade. Through trade we are able to continue to support and often [English] lift our middle class. That is something which this government has been very much focused on since taking office back in 2015. We re‐ HOUSE OF COMMONS alize that building on Canada's middle class and supporting the The Speaker: I invite the House to take note that today we are middle class is good for Canada's economy. Both areas will benefit. using the wooden mace. [Translation] We have seen that through different approaches dealing with It serves as a reminder of the fire that claimed seven lives and public policy. One of those policy measures is the idea of expand‐ destroyed the original Parliament buildings during the night of ing the economy by securing markets through free trade agree‐ February 3, 1916. ments. I would suggest to members on all sides of this House that [English] our government has been very progressive in moving forward and taking specific actions on free trade agreements. Among the items destroyed in that fire was the old mace. The wooden copy that you see today was subsequently made and used temporarily until the current one was given to us by the United In fact, in looking at the agreement with the European Union Kingdom in 1917. with, I believe it is 28 countries, along with the trans-Pacific part‐ [Translation] nership and some of the other smaller agreements, such as the trade agreement with Ukraine, the World Trade Organization, and legis‐ The wooden mace is being used today as a reminder of what hap‐ lation brought forward by this government a few years back, we pened 104 years ago. will see that the government has really recognized the importance of trade. That was reinforced over the weekend for me in the city of Winnipeg where New Flyer recently entered into an agreement to GOVERNMENT ORDERS sell and export a number of electric buses to the United States. I be‐ lieve it is a total of 100 buses, although I could be wrong. [English] CANADA-UNITED STATES-MEXICO AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT In terms of the actual numbers, the point is that many companies all over Canada very much need those export markets. When it The House resumed from January 31 consideration of the motion comes to the United States, we are talking about billions of dollars, that Bill C-4, An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, about $9 billion every day of commerce between our two countries. the United States of America and the United Mexican States, be We have a very strong desire to ensure that we secure those mar‐ read the second time and referred to a committee. kets. The best way of doing that is to have these trade agreements The Speaker: Resuming debate. The hon. parliamentary secre‐ in place. tary to the government House leader has three minutes remaining. Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Presi‐ dent of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Lead‐ What is really nice about this particular agreement is that Cana‐ er of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. dians, different stakeholders, organizations, non-profits, govern‐ Speaker, I thought I would just emphasize the importance of the ments and political parties of all stripes have really been engaged legislation that we are debating today. One of the ways to look at over the last two and half years to ultimately achieve the final prod‐ the trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico uct, which is what we are debating today. 794 COMMONS DEBATES February 3, 2020 Government Orders I listened very closely to the debate and the concerns that mem‐ we will find that universally applied within the Liberal caucus, in bers across the way have expressed, but I think the overall agree‐ particular with our members of Parliament from the province of ment that we have before us is the best agreement that we could Quebec, who are very much aware of the importance of supply have delivered for Canadians. I recognize that opposition parties management. will always want to believe that they could have done better. I re‐ spect that. However, at the end of the day, I believe that what we We will continue to be there to protect the industry. At times are presenting through this legislation is the best agreement for there needs to be a form of compensation. Once we get to the sec‐ Canada and that all Canadians in all regions will benefit directly as ond reading vote on this legislation, I would encourage the Bloc a result of it. It was really encouraging to see the Conservatives, the members to give it their consideration and recognize that we have Greens and the New Democrats support the ways and means mo‐ an agreement that is in the best interests of all of Canada. We have tion with respect to this legislation. great support crossing political lines from the different premiers across the country. I hope the Bloc will give extra consideration to ● (1110) recognizing the value of this agreement. Mr. Ziad Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning, CPC): Madam ● (1115) Speaker, it would be greatly appreciated if the member opposite could name three important areas in this agreement where Canada Mr. Michael Levitt (York Centre, Lib.): Madam Speaker, I has won. want to thank the hon. member for opening up the debate for us this morning. Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, one of our greatest wins by signing this agreement is with respect to supply manage‐ On his last note, he mentioned co-operation across party lines. ment. We were able to resist the pressure. Many outside groups That is not just with respect to political co-operation, but also co- would have loved to see the demise of supply management in operation across labour, business and indigenous groups, and the Canada. Our current Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister political co-operation that came together with respect to the NAF‐ and our caucus have been behind supply management for years. I TA advisory council. I wonder if the hon. member would reflect a would argue it was a Liberal administration that brought in the sys‐ bit on how that all came together to get this good, hard work done tem of supply management. on this new NAFTA. Farmers in all regions of the country are very much supportive of Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, the member is quite it. We cannot underestimate the pressure we received from U.S. in‐ right. However, to say that this took place within a month or two dustries and the United States government for us to abandon supply would be wrong. It has taken a great deal of time and effort by a management. I am proud of the fact this agreement continues to en‐ good number of people from different stakeholder forums, includ‐ sure that supply management will always be part of the Canadian ing political and non-profit. We had a great group of people. We economy. I see that as the strongest benefit in this agreement. How‐ have a wonderful agreement, which we should be looking at pass‐ ever, that is my personal opinion. ing. Another win is the fact we have an agreement. This was not an Mr. Taylor Bachrach (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, NDP): Madam easy thing to achieve given the changes that were being asked for. I Speaker, I rise today to speak to the new NAFTA, the Canada-Unit‐ believe we are doing exceptionally well with the agreement. ed States-Mexico agreement. [Translation] New Democrats recognize that the United States is Canada's Mr. Yves Perron (Berthier—Maskinongé, BQ): Madam most significant trading partner, and that the trade enabled by the Speaker, I listened to what my colleague across the way said. I was agreement we are debating today is critical to Canada's economic reassured to hear that he seems to care about supply management. success. Since the signing of the original free trade agreement, Canadian exports to the United States increased from $110 billion However, recent history proves otherwise. The government often in 1993 to $349 billion in 2014. However, it is vital that the wealth promises to protect this system but, every time, it ends up giving up generated through trade creates good jobs for working people in a little chunk. Under this agreement, the local market will lose a to‐ Canada and not simply for the interests of the wealthiest few. tal of 18% of the market. That is a lot, and it is starting to hurt our farmers. When the initial agreement was signed back in November 2018, the NDP raised serious concerns about how the new trade deal ad‐ Would my colleague agree that it is time to stop throwing road‐ dressed workers' rights and environmental regulations. Disappoint‐ blocks in the way of this system and protect supply management ingly, it was left to the Democrats in the U.S. rather than the Liberal through legislation? Would he be open to that proposal? government to stand up to the Trump administration and fight for [English] these important changes.