SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 238

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 24, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 238 - Oct/24/23
Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • Oct/24/23 11:40:41 a.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-57 
Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that we have seen in previous trade deals, and I am thinking of the free trade agreement with China that the Harper government signed back in 2014. While I am being heckled by Conservatives, I will just remind them that they signed a trade agreement with China for 31 years. That trade agreement— An hon. member: It's not a free trade agreement. Mr. Gord Johns: Mr. Speaker, if the member wants to get up on a point of order, he can clarify. While he is heckling me, I will remind him that they signed a trade agreement with secret tribunals, and even Canadians do not know about what is in those secret tribunals when there is an appeal from the Chinese government that wants to override, say, Canadian rights. There was a woman in my riding, Brenda Sayers, a lawyer, an esteemed lawyer from the Hupacasath First Nation, who took the Harper government to court and appealed that this was violating indigenous rights. One thing I like in this agreement is the chapter on trade and indigenous peoples. It reaffirms the parties' commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Does my colleague agree that focussed chapters should be included in all free trade agreements moving forward so that we do not end up in the same position we are in because of the Conservatives and their trade agreement with China and the other trade agreements they signed?
250 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border