Hansard
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 1426 - 1440 of 1564
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, first, I hope the hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster will join with me in supporting and cheering the repeal of COOL.
When it comes to TPP, the former government negotiated the deal in secret without consulting with Canadians. We are keeping our promise to listen to Canadians and to consult on this deal. Since being sworn in, I have been part of more than 70 consultations on this issue. Today, I wrote a letter to my colleagues in the House and in the Senate asking committees to study it.
The Conservatives did not—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, of course I will be at that meeting in New Zealand. I am pleased to report to the House that I met with many of the TPP ministers at the WTO ministerial, which was held at Davos.
We are working very closely with the other TPP countries and consulting with Canadians. This is an important issue and we are working hard on it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats oppose this deal without reading it and without consulting with Canadians. We promised during the campaign to consult with Canadians and that is what we are doing. That is why since being sworn in as minister, I have already had more than 70 meetings about the TPP. That is why, today, I have written to my colleagues in the House and asked that our trade committee study the deal carefully.
The NDP knows, notwithstanding the posturing we have heard today, that signing and ratifying are very different things, and in trade deals technicalities really do matter.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Essex on her election and her first question in the House.
We absolutely understand that a deal of the magnitude of the TPP requires extensive public consultation. I have been engaged in that energetically. I would like to thank my colleague, the Minister of Innovation, who when it comes to the auto sector particularly has been working with me. We have spoken already with labour. We are having a couple of labour meetings this week. We have spoken with the car parts manufacturers. We are meeting with more car companies this week. Consultation is essential and we are looking forward to hearing from Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government supports free trade so strongly, I could not wait to answer that question. We understand how important it is for middle-class prosperity. We also understand that on a deal this big, it is essential to consult Canadians and have a full parliamentary debate.
I must say to my hon. colleague that he is a little mistaken on the facts when he suggests that we could be signing the deal now. The deal is not yet open for either signature or ratification. The member might want to have a coffee with the hon. member for Abbotsford who is well versed in the details of how trade deals work.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government supports free trade and we understand the importance of international trade for economic growth and prosperity for the middle class.
Regarding the TPP, we are committed to ensuring full transparency and having a full debate in Parliament. We will stand up for Canadian farmers. My colleague, the Minister of Agriculture, and I have already met with farmers on this matter. That was our commitment.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the discriminatory COOL legislation was in place for eight years during the previous government's rule. I welcome the ruling by the WTO. It is the fourth time the WTO has ruled in our favour, with a record $1 billion quantum. We are pursuing this matter. I welcome the fact that the House of Representatives has repealed COOL. We are calling on the Senate to do the same. Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the agriculture committee, has already, today, called for the repeal of COOL. I would like to say to the hon. member—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Vancouver Centre for her question. I am delighted to back in the House with my cherished colleague.
We welcome the WTO ruling. This is a vindication of the Canadian position. We are working very hard in Washington with the Senate and we are very pleased that Congress has already repealed this.
I do want to say to Canada's beef and pork producers that the Minister of Agriculture is a former farmer. I am a daughter and granddaughter of ranchers. We are on the side of Canada's producers. We are in their corner, and if we have to retaliate we will.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Numbers do not lie, Mr. Speaker. The manufacturing performance is dismal, particularly with the dollar at 81¢, and it is part of a wider trend.
The trade deficit has soared to historic highs: in January, $1.8 billion; in February, $2 billion; in March, an all-time slump, $3.9 billion; in April, another $3 billion. That is a total deficit so far this year of more than $10 billion.
Without reciting talking points, could the government explain how it will turn those terrible numbers around?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the formal trade deal between Europe and Ukraine goes into force at the beginning of 2016, but the EU actually understands Ukraine's pivotal role and has therefore pre-emptively and unilaterally lifted tariffs for Ukrainian companies.
In contrast, despite much rhetoric about Ukraine, Canada has held back, awaiting the completion of inevitably time-consuming, formal, bilateral trade talks.
Why does the Prime Minister not do as much for Ukraine on trade right now as Angela Merkel has already done?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, despite celebratory announcements in October and December of 2013, and then again in August and September of 2014, the CETA deal is still not done. Last September's premature party alone cost hard-working Canadian taxpayers nearly half a million dollars.
The government cynically boasts about the number of deals it has signed, but the grim reality is record high trade deficits of $3 billion and $3.9 billion in March and April. When will the government finally scrap its tired talking points and tell us when CETA will be finished?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the OECD has cut its 2015 GDP forecast for Canada to a dismal 1.5%. By way of excuse, the minister today claimed, “We are doing better than most developed countries”. That is simply not true. The OECD puts us behind Australia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, the U.K., the U.S. and yes, even Spain.
This is no global problem, as the government likes to pretend to excuse its shoddy management. This is a made-in-Canada runway to recession.
When will the finance—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Friday's GDP numbers showed a 0.6% drop over the first quarter of 2015, a performance rightly described as “terrible” by a Bay Street economist.
The Governor of the Bank of Canada's previous remark about an “atrocious” start to the year has sadly been borne out. Most troubling was the 0.2% decline in March, a month which was supposed to show an economic rebound.
When will the Conservatives quit parroting their talking points, face this grim reality, and admit they have no effective plan for jobs and growth?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Toronto Centre, rail safety is an issue of immense community concern. The government has proposed changes to the current rail safety system, but they do not go nearly far enough.
A new proposed speed limit remains higher than self-imposed limits set by CN and CP in urban areas. The timeline to replace and upgrade aging DOT-111 tank cars would leave unsafe cars on the tracks for far too long.
The Conservatives' piecemeal approach to rail safety is frustrating our communities and putting them at risk. In my riding, two rail lines used for transporting crude oil run through residential areas. Residents and community organizations are worried and want better safety rules, but Transport Canada's Rail Safety Directorate lacks staff, funding and training.
We must do much more to improve rail safety in our communities.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the government's performance on trade continues to fall far short of its rhetoric. The most recent example is a breakdown in bilateral negotiations with Japan. Talks have been stalled for months, with Canadian officials citing Japan's focus on the trans-Pacific partnership as their excuse for the slowdown. However, Japan has continued bilateral negotiations with other countries, so this excuse rings hollow.
Will the Conservatives redouble efforts to schedule a round of negotiations with Japan before we fall behind our foreign competitors, as we did with South Korea, costing Canada billions of dollars and thousands of middle-class jobs?
Results: 1426 - 1440 of 1564 | Page: 96 of 105

|<
<
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data