FAIT Committee Report

Subcommittee on International Trade,
Trade Disputes and Investment Report on Economic Relations Between Canada and Asia
NDP Dissenting Report

Bill Blaikie, MP
November 4, 2003

The NDP wishes to dissent from the majority report of the Subcommittee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment, entitled Economic Relations Between Canada and Asia.

While we agree with certain particular aspects of the report, such as the suggestion that Canada needs to reduce its dependency on trade with the US, and the idea of more parliamentary involvement in trade negotiations, the report as a whole partakes fully of the false hope and moral poverty of the prevailing global trade liberalization paradigm, and is therefore unacceptable to the NDP.

The complete absence of any acknowledgement that labour rights and labour standards in Asia are in need of radical improvements is another serious flaw in the report. The value-neutral way in which China’s “low labour costs” are referred to in the report, as a threat to the “surrounding Asian countries”, who themselves are far from ideal, is a good example of what is wrong with this report. Instead of low labour costs being a cause for concern, or at least curiousity, about the ability of working people in China to defend themselves from exploitation, all we hear is excited language about how market reforms, economic efficiencies, and competition are creating investment opportunities in China for a small minority of Canadians. The Chapter on the Asia Pacific Foundation, for instance, could have stipulated that its function be more than the provision of market information about Asia-Pacific. Information on labour conditions should also be a Canadian interest.

Recommendations like recommendation no. 10 which calls for free trade in services is another good example of what is wrong with this report. The NDP believes that free trade in services would pose a serious threat to the Canadian way of providing health and education, and would also facilitate the privatization of water and other public services in Canada.

The NDP therefore submits this minority report.