FAIT Committee Report
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BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION
TO THE REPORT BY THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL TRADE, TRADE DISPUTES AND INVESTMENT:
BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE NEW ROUND OF WTO NEGOTIATIONS:
KEY ISSUES FOR CANADA
TABLED TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
It was in a spirit of cooperation, openness and keen interest that the Bloc Québécois took part in the proceedings of the Sub-Committee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment, designed to assess the WTO negotiating issues from a Canadian standpoint.
Overall, the Bloc Québécois supports the recommendations in the Report.
However, the Bloc considers that a recommendation calling for transparency should be added. When international trade agreements are signed, Quebec and the other provinces lose a significant portion of their freedom to formulate public policy, without being compensated for this loss by any direct participation in international forums.
The Bloc Québécois would like to see the following recommendation added to the section Transparency and Outreach.
That the government of Canada create an agreed-upon mechanism for consultation with the provinces in all areas of federal jurisdiction. In all areas of exclusive or shared jurisdiction, decision-making and negotiating powers must be granted to Québec and to any province that wishes them. In addition, with a view to complying with Recommendation 20 in the Report, on services, it is essential that Quebec’s ability to intervene in the area of such public services as education, health care, early childhood services and social services, be preserved. Lastly, cultural diversity must be respected. No agreement must prejudice Quebec’s ability to introduce such measures as it deems appropriate for the formulation of cultural policies or the introduction of means of intervention in the cultural sector.
The Bloc Québécois considers that one of the recommendations should be worded differently: Recommendation 29, dealing with the fundamental rights of citizens, is not strong enough, in the Bloc’s opinion. While the members of the Sub-Committee agreed that democratic rights include labour and environmental rights, the Bloc Québécois considers that these should have been spelled out in the recommendation. The Bloc would have preferred the federal government to promote clauses tying benefits from future WTO trade agreement to respect for fundamental rights, not only as regards democracy but also as regards labour and the environment. The benefits tied to trade agreements should apply only to countries that respect labour rights based on fundamental International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and important international conventions such as the Kyoto Accord.