Ms. Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NDP) moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, this government has sabotaged Canadian democracy by pursuing a trade policy that gives excessive power to unelected and unaccountable international trade organizations and erodes the ability of Canada's elected representatives to act in the public interest; and
That therefore the government should not negotiate any further liberalization of trade or investment at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) without first securing enforceable international rules on core labour standards, environmental protection, cultural diversity, the preservation of public health care and public education and, generally, the right of democratically-elected governments to act for the common good; and
That the government should seek to eliminate the investor- state dispute mechanism in Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which gives foreign corporations the right to sue and intimidate Canadian governments as in the cases involving MMT and bulk water exports, and should refuse to include such a mechanism in any other trade agreement; and further
That the government should take action to remedy its over-zealous and irresponsible pursuit of greater trade liberalisation, which has caused extreme hardship for Canadian farmers, whose domestic support payments have been slashed by 60%, three times what was actually required by Canada's international trading obligations.
She said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to debate this important NDP opposition day motion. I will be dividing my time with my colleague, the member for Winnipeg-Transcona.
Four weeks from now, in a non-descript meeting room in a downtown hotel in Seattle, a team of Canadian negotiators will sit down around a table to begin the next round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization.
Few Canadians know what is at stake in these negotiations and the Liberal government is not about to tell them. Why? Because what is at stake in Seattle is nothing less than our universal health care system, our public education, the future of our family farms, our cultural sovereignty and the environmental legacy that we leave for our children.
These are the things that make us one of the world's great nations. They shape and define us as Canadians, as a caring and compassionate society, as a vigorous economy and as a place of clean air to breathe and pure water to drink.
[Translation]
Because of the Liberals' failure to act, everything that defines us as Canadians is on the table in Seattle.
[English]
If the Liberal government came clean with what is on the table in Seattle, Canadians would be horrified, just as they were a few years ago when they discovered that the Liberal government had spent three years negotiating the MAI behind closed doors.
In that instance ordinary Canadians gathered together. We worked with other democracies and other progressive organizations around the world and we dealt a death blow to the MAI. It just shows how well democracy can work and how well it will work if ordinary citizens see a threat and work together to stop it.
The WTO has been called a new economic constitution for the planet. What it really is is a hostile corporate takeover. It is a takeover of Canada's most important public services and programs by the world's largest corporations. The trade minister actually acknowledged this when he stated that under the WTO regime "the state has surrendered a large part of its jurisdiction to the market and now transnational actors are the ones controlling the key elements". Canadians do not want this to happen. They will not let this happen.
[Translation]
The WTO represents a takeover by multinationals of the public programs and services so valued by Canadians. It is unacceptable.
[English]
A long list of Canada's public policies, laws and programs have already fallen victim to trade disputes. They include programs to support Canadian publishing, standards for toxic fuel additives, and funding for research and development in our high tech sector.
Last week Saskatchewan and Manitoba farmers were here on Parliament Hill asking for help. Instead of desperately needed help they got flim-flam, the now you see it, now you don't magical disappearing statistics.
One of the reasons that farmers need help is the trade negotiations of the 1980s. While Canada sat at the world table working to dissolve subsidies, the United States was busy stepping up its export enhancement program and capturing key chunks of Canada's world market. Meanwhile, the federal Liberal government slashed farmers' domestic support payments by 60%, three times the amount required by our WTO obligations.
This time in the upcoming WTO round, the trade negotiators are taking direct aim at our most valuable national asset, our universal public health system. We know that an ageing population means increasing health care needs. U.S. corporations see a rich market ripe for the taking with the help of the WTO. Canada's health care system and our ability to sustain it have been compromised again and again by corporate interests in our trade negotiations.
With every new trade agreement we have had a new trade bill that gives longer patent protection, for example to multinational drug giants. The result is more profits for pharmaceutical companies and increasing drug costs for Canadians.
What is it that the U.S. health care companies want this time? They want more privatization of our health services, majority foreign ownership of our health care facilities, access to and more competition in our health care market, and the right to bid on all our government contracts including those in health care.
The trade minister says he wants to open up health care services to see whether Canadian providers can export to the world, but the real agenda is to expose Canada's health care to be scavenged for profit by the American health care industry.
[Translation]
The Minister for International Trade says he is prepared to open up our health services to American companies. This will clearly mean the end of our public health system.
[English]
Our health care is not the only thing at risk. The WTO also has its eye on our public education system. What could this mean for Canadians?
Foreign for profit educational institutions would be guaranteed the right to operate in Canada. Governments could not require educational institutions to hire locally. The requirements of the education professions and institutions could be subject to WTO review. Any government subsidies, like student loans or grants, would have to be given to both public and private providers. This would mean the beginning of the end of Canada's public education system and we will not permit it to happen.
The stakes in trade negotiations get higher every day. The most recent attack was on Canada's auto pact, the underpinning of thousands of good Canadian jobs and the basis of much of our manufacturing sector for the past 40 years.
Look what has happened to environmental initiatives under the new trading regime. In every single case, the WTO has ruled in favour of corporate interests and against environmental and public health.
Canada's baptism by fire came over MMT, a toxic gasoline additive and a NAFTA chapter 11 challenge by Ethyl Corporation. The government settled out of court, withdrew its legislation and paid .6 million in damages to Ethyl Corporation. The big winners were U.S. corporate interests and the losers were Canadians concerned about our environment.
Now because of the government's failure to act, we face a similar risk with Canadian bulk water exports. New Democrats are leading the fight against the export of bulk water. While we managed to persuade the Liberal government to vote for our opposition day motion to legislate a ban on bulk water exports, no such thing has been done to date.
Today my colleagues will speak in more detail about the threats to agriculture, to our health care, our cultural sovereignty, our environmental protection.
Let me make it clear. New Democrats support a rules based global economy. We believe in rules, fair rules, because Canada is a trading nation, but we also believe we must regulate economic activity in the interests of people.
The WTO ties the hands of democratic governments that wish to create legislation good for their citizens, legislation that might impede from time to time the profit making capacity of multinational corporations.
New Democrats do not believe and most Canadians do not believe that we should surrender Canadian sovereignty and the public services and initiatives we care about in order to make the world a barrier free playground for the economically powerful.
Today I want to know, Canadians want to know, where are the Liberals? Why will they not stand up for Canada? Why will they not fight to protect the rights of Canadians against multinational corporations?
I assure everyone that today, in Seattle, and in the coming months whenever and wherever trade negotiations threaten to destroy the very things that define us as Canadians, New Democrats will be there. We will be there fighting to protect the rights and interests of Canadians against the increasing power and the increasingly anti-democratic control of multinational corporations.
