Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands) 2020-03-11 16:21
Madam Speaker, it is always difficult to look back. I know people tend to forget what happened in the 41st Parliament. The passage of the Canada-China investment treaty is one on which we really need to focus. People forget that it exists. I have heard so many members speak to the issues we have in CUSMA, now that we have gotten rid of chapter 11, the investor-state dispute settlement provisions, that allowed the U.S. government to sue us in secret. However, it was under Stephen Harper that we are now obligated, for decades, to secret tribunals, where the People’s Republic of China state-owned enterprises have the right to lean on the Canadian government in secret, first for six months, and then bring secret arbitration cases, if we do anything that hurts the expectation of profits of corporations from the People’s Republic of China. Would the member be willing to look into the implications of that, which was passed in secret, in cabinet, without a vote in Parliament?
Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville) 2020-03-11 16:22
Madam Speaker, I cannot answer that. However, if we were forming government, we would be far more careful about the way we encourage investment from China in our country going forward.