FAIT Committee Report

            The Canadian Alliance and its predecessor the Reform Party, has for a number of years supported the idea of bringing major treaties and major free trade agreements such as the FTAA to the House of Commons for ratification.

            Parliamentarians are elected by the people to be their watchdogs on major policy decisions. Failing to debate and examine the serious issues and their repercussions in parliament undermines the role of the M.P. as the public’s watchdog. Elected officials cannot properly represent their constituents if the big issues that profoundly affect their lives, such as free trade agreements and other international treaties like the international criminal court and others, are not discussed in the House of Commons

            It is essential that all the relevant information be exposed and discussed in the open forum of Parliament. The public would be short-changed if they are denied the benefit of hearing the full debate. The House of Commons is supposed to be the home of democracy in Canada and the home of free speech, but so far there has been a reluctance to bring the big issues such as treaties before it. This is unfortunate. In fact it is an affront to free speech and democracy. It betrays an attitude that the government knows best and there is no role or input for parliamentarians. It also suggests that too many times that the government goes out of its way to purposely ignore the public.

            Contrary to the benefit of Canadians, the government has ignored Parliament when it comes to discussing treaties and international agreements. The result is that people do not get the information they need, members of parliament are not allowed to do their jobs and, ultimately, the government enters into agreements that very often do not reflect the values and wishes of Canadians.

            Having a few people in the priorities and planning committee of cabinet on the government side decide huge issues such as trade agreements does not contribute to democracy. In fact it runs counter to democracy if issues that profoundly affect people's lives are not discussed in the forum where their elected representatives are supposed to discuss these things

            It is impossible to argue that the House of Commons should not be engaged in these kinds of serious debates. The House needs to be the place where treaties are discussed first and foremost. It would probably to some degree end the practice of circumventing democracy that we see today, where unelected, unaccountable NGOs run to the government to have their voices heard. The lack of genuine debate also likely contributes to the level of frustration regularly manifested by protestors every time a major summit meeting is held.