Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the hon. member was not at the trade committee because there was and still is no contradiction.

Let me quote to the hon. member exactly what I said: “I think it is clear that the tax base between the United States and Canada needs to continue to be closed”. Clearly the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have stated repeatedly that we have started that work and that work will continue.

Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, let me thank my hon. friend for his interest in the free trade initiative of the Americas.

Under Canada's able chairmanship, I am happy to say that progress with those 34 countries is going well.

The ultimate aim is to create the largest free trade area in the world, which will be comprised of 34 nations, 800 million people and over $10 trillion.

As a result, we believe that Canada is strategically well placed, not only to participate, but to offer leadership to the free trade initiative.

Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, the government certainly supports the bill that is currently in the other place.

The meeting that concluded yesterday was the eighth meeting among American and Canadian officials to try to look at a number of the concerns. I would have to say there is good faith on both sides and there has been progress. Now the work of these officials will go to individual ministers and individual governments. At the end of the day, I think there is every possibility of doing the right thing for the magazine industry as well as protecting all of our important sectors.

Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada not only is standing up for all that amount in trade, it also believes in its Canadian culture. That culture is also part of our exports.

It is also not correct to say that the discussions with our friends from the United States are going badly. We have completed seven meetings. There is one next week. If the truth be known, on both sides there is good faith and a good attempt to try to avoid what we believe are unnecessary trade slippery slope threats. We will continue to defend—

Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that after five years NAFTA has been a tremendous success for all three countries. Trade is up, investment is up, and employment is up. We have built a North American economy that is working well for all three countries.

At the same time, in addition to discussing the achievements, we also want to address the challenges that still confront NAFTA. We have said that we will put chapter 11 and the investor state on the agenda to discuss it from a perspective of transparency, narrowing the word and meaning of expropriation without reopening NAFTA and losing the entire chapter.