(Official Version)
EDITED HANSARD NUMBER 35

HOUSE OF COMMONS
Monday, December 6, 1999

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ORAL QUESTION PERIOD

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TRADE

Mr. Bill Blaikie (WinnipegTranscona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.

I would like to welcome him back from the battle in Seattle. I hope that the only walls he has to climb from now on are the walls he has erected in his own mind preventing him from being more critical of the WTO.

In that respect, I want to ask him why it was, in respect of the text that was being developed on servicesof course, there was no final textbut in the text that was being developed before the meeting, we now have proof that Canada was asking for shorter and less precise language and wanting to suppress certain language because of the sensitivities of cultural industries at home. Why was Canada, given the rhetoric on transparency, conspiring to hide its position?

Hon. Pierre S. Pettigrew (Minister for International Trade, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, first I would like to express my thanks to the Canadian delegation for its extraordinary contribution at the WTO ministerial conference last week. I want to thank my provincial colleagues who accompanied us. We benefited a great deal from their advice. I was extremely pleased that the Canadian delegation engaged in a very healthy dialogue with the NGOs.

As for the question on services, Canada did exactly what it said it would do, it did not take up on health and education.

Mr. Bill Blaikie (WinnipegTranscona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I have a memo from David Hartridge, the director of WTO services, in which he refers to the fact that Canada along with the EU asked for the suppression of certain language and for shorter and less precise language in order to respond to cultural sensitivities at home.

Perhaps the minister could explain what these cultural sensitivities were. Why, given all the rhetoric about transparency, was Canada attempting to suppress the reality of what was being agreed to in this text?

Hon. Pierre S. Pettigrew (Minister for International Trade, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I do not know what memo the member is referring to.

I can say that Canada stands for transparency. We believe in transparency. Of the 135 delegations in Seattle, the one that most engaged in a dialogue with the NGOs was the Canadian one. We engaged in a dialogue with the provincial ministers.

On services we will fight for a bottom up approach as we said. The services we do not want to take we will not take up. That is what Canada did. I am extremely proud of Canada's engagement in Seattle last week.

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AGRICULTURE

Mr. Howard Hilstrom (SelkirkInterlake, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers' worst fears were realized at the WTO talks in Seattle. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food failed to get any movement on foreign subsidies. Even the Minister for International Trade has been quoted as saying that there was a lack of leadership at those talks.

Now that the minister has failed at the WTO, what is he going to do to help farmers suffering from foreign subsidies?

Hon. Lyle Vanclief (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his presence in Seattle last week and for his input in discussions, along with those of a number of other MPs, members of provincial legislatures, and the farm and industry organization representatives that were there.

I am sure the hon. member has seen the text and if not, it is available to him, where it was frozen when the talks were suspended. There was a clear reference in that to the elimination of export subsidies. Unfortunately some of the countries could not agree to that and we did not get it. But it certainly was not because Canada was not pushing for it.

Mr. Howard Hilstrom (SelkirkInterlake, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, the government seems to be saying "We tried. Better luck next time". This does not help farmers who cannot afford to wait for the deadlocked WTO talks to succeed.

Given the failure in Seattle, Canada must pursue bilateral agreements on agriculture and provide urgently needed short term assistance. Will the Prime Minister immediately enter into negotiations with the members of the Cairns group and the U.S. to create a trading zone free of agriculture subsidies?

Hon. Lyle Vanclief (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the hon. member does not understand what happened last week.

It was very clear last week that the Cairns group, of which Canada is a very important and key member, and the United States stood firm and stood together in the six hour marathon negotiations on agriculture. Unfortunately the European Union could not agree after it went back to consult with its member states. It was not because we caved in. It was because they could not and refused to come our way.

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