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Results: 121 - 147 of 147
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I do agree with my hon. colleague about one thing: Canadian aluminum is green aluminum, Canadians should be proud of our aluminum industry, and we should work in the interest of our aluminum industry. That is what we have done. That is what our government has done. We are working closely with the industry, and, as a result, we got the U.S. tariffs fully lifted.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
moved that a ways and means motion to introduce an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States be concurred in.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
moved that Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, be read the first time and printed.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I am certainly always willing to listen to all members of the House.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the new NAFTA will benefit Quebec in big ways. It maintains $57.3 billion worth of exports from Quebec to the United States. It maintains the cultural exemption, which is very important to our government, and it maintains supply management even though the United States wanted to completely dismantle it. This is a good agreement for Quebec and for Canada.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Global Affairs Canada's chief economist is currently preparing an analysis based on the December amendments to the deal which, in my view and in the view of our professional negotiating team, improve the deal for Canadians. We absolutely intend to publish the analysis once it is finalized, which will be soon.
I invite all of us as colleagues to put Canada and Canadians first and to ratify the new NAFTA without undue delay.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking my colleague from Prince Albert for his ongoing collaboration over many years.
We absolutely are very open to sharing and making available our officials to all members of the opposition immediately after the signing of the protocol of amendments to the new NAFTA. Steve Verheul offered briefings in December to the leaders of all of the opposition parties with the members of their caucus they chose to invite, and I spoke last week with the member for Prince Albert.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, as I said to the Bloc Québécois, we are absolutely open to constructive proposals from our colleagues on the other side of the House.
As far as the aluminum sector is concerned, I want to point out that when the new NAFTA is ratified, 70% of a vehicle's content in North America will have to be made in North America. Today, that number is 0%. I think that 70% is better than 0%.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I wish to table a notice of a ways and means motion respecting an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.
Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of this motion.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to defending the aluminum sector and its workers. We fought to have the U.S. tariffs on aluminum fully lifted. When the new NAFTA is ratified, we will have a guarantee that 70% of the aluminum in cars manufactured in the area covered by NAFTA will be sourced in North America. Currently, 0% of the aluminum in cars manufactured under NAFTA must be sourced in North America, so 70% is definitely better than 0%.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, allow me to quote the Premier of Quebec, Mr. Legault, with whom I spoke this morning. He knows how important this agreement is to Canadians. In December, he said, "I believe the Bloc Québécois has to defend the interests of Quebeckers, and it is in the interest of Quebeckers for this agreement to be ratified and adopted."
It is a good deal for Quebec workers and businesses. I agree with Premier Legault.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we do indeed understand the implications of this agreement, which is a good agreement for Quebec and for Canada.
The new NAFTA is excellent for jobs in Canada and Quebec and for providing economic certainty. Jean Simard, president of the Aluminium Association of Canada, even said that the new NAFTA is the right way to go.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaty entitled “Protocol of Amendment to the Agreement Between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States”.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear: this agreement puts an end to the existential threat that our country has been facing since Donald Trump threatened to tear up NAFTA. Our economy and our country were in real danger. We avoided this danger. All Canada has to do is ratify this modernized, updated agreement. Jeopardizing the ratification of the new NAFTA essentially amounts to putting partisan politics ahead of the national interest.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what our Prime Minister will do and what he is already doing, and that is to get a modernized trade deal with the United States, our neighbour and most important partner, ratified. I must say that we are aware we are in a minority Parliament and that this is a grave historical responsibility of every member of this House.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to defending the aluminum sector and its workers. We fought to have the U.S. tariffs on aluminum fully lifted. Only Canada and Mexico have had these tariffs lifted.
When the new NAFTA is ratified, we will have a guarantee that 70% of the aluminum in cars manufactured in the area covered by NAFTA will be sourced in North America. The current percentage is zero.
We must ratify this agreement.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, this is very important. This is a historic moment for the entire House. It is important to talk about facts and reality.
The reality is that this modernized agreement will benefit the aluminum industry, Quebec and all Canadians.
This is not the time for partisan politics. It is the time to stand up for our national interest.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me give members a few of the reasons why the new NAFTA is a much better agreement for supporting the rules-based international order than the agreement it will replace.
One is that in the new NAFTA we have a much stronger state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism, formerly chapter 20, now chapter 31. Second, we have gotten rid of ISDS, which is inappropriate in our trade relationship with the United States. Third, we have maintained chapter 19.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, with regard to aluminum, let me tell members what our government has been successful in doing.
First of all, we have been successful in getting the section 232 tariffs on aluminum lifted. This is no small thing. Let us be clear: Canada is today the only major aluminum producer with tariff-free access to the U.S. market.
Second, in the new NAFTA, which will come into force with support from my friends across the aisle very soon I trust, the aluminum sector will benefit from an additional 70% content requirement.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I met with the United Steelworkers today too. The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons was with me.
I visited the plant twice. We discussed Quebec aluminum. It was a constructive conversation, like all my conversations with unions from our excellent aluminum sector. Workers know that our government is committed to fighting for the aluminum sector and its workers.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the new NAFTA is excellent for all of Canada's workers, including aluminum workers. Jean Simard, president and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada, said that the new NAFTA was the path to take. Aluminum workers themselves are saying that.
To jeopardize ratification of the new NAFTA is to put partisan politics ahead of our national interest. We are not doing that in our government.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, through you, I would like to assure the members opposite and all Canadians that our government takes very seriously the economic challenges that the Canadian Prairies are facing. If I may, I would like to quote Premier Kenney, who said at lunchtime today that he believes a strong Alberta is essential for a strong Canada, and I would add a strong Manitoba and a strong Saskatchewan.
We will achieve that if all of us in this House—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me assure the hon. member and all Canadians that, thanks very much to the Prime Minister's work, we have an excellent working relationship with our American neighbours. Let me say, in the lives of ordinary Canadians, there is perhaps no issue in our relationship with the United States that matters more than trade.
The Prime Minister raised the ratification of the new NAFTA and other trade issues in his meeting last week with the President and we have been working intensively, including having many conversations over the weekend and this morning with our American partners, on getting the deal finalized.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my hon. colleague and all Canadians that our relations with our neighbours to the south are excellent, especially with regard to international trade.
I want to make it clear to all my colleagues and all Canadians that Canada has better access to the American market than any other country in the world today. This gives Canadians a major advantage, and we need to continue this important work.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my hon. colleagues and all Canadians that the Prime Minister is an excellent representative of our country abroad, especially when it comes to our essential relationship with the United States.
I want to assure all Canadians that our current relationship with the United States is very constructive. The Prime Minister attended a very constructive bilateral meeting with the President of the United States. This morning I spoke with Ambassador Lighthizer about NAFTA, and I will be speaking to him again after question period.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to assure hon. members in the House, but above all, all Canadians, that our Prime Minister is an excellent representative and, crucially, because this is something that Canadians care about because it affects their daily lives, that we have an excellent relationship with the United States, led by the excellent working relationship the Prime Minister has with President Trump.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for the very important question. The forestry industry is an absolutely essential industry for Canada and one that all of us are deeply concerned about.
We have been working hard with the forestry industry and with our provincial colleagues to support the forestry industry. When it comes to softwood lumber tariffs, we are taking cases at NAFTA and at the WTO.
We have preserved chapter 19 at NAFTA that allows us to fight for Canadian industry, and we are prepared to talk to the Americans when they are ready to come to the table.
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