Discussion · Government Orders
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Québécois
“I support finding new trade partners for Canadian and Quebec businesses, but we must be realistic. New trade deals with small markets will not change much. We are not too dependent on the United States. We share the same land, so our economies are naturally connected, and we should keep working with them.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that we support the idea of diversifying export markets for Canadian and Quebec businesses. This was already happening under the father of the previous prime minister, who wanted to diversify Canada’s markets. Now, let us not deceive ourselves. If we sign a trade agreement with a country that accounts for less than half of 1% of our exports and we say we are going to double that amount, it will be just 1%. If we already have a free trade agreement with Europe and even that agreement does not have a significant short-term impact on the percentage of our non-U.S. exports, we have another kind of problem. I disagree with the word “dependence”. We are not dependent on the American economy. We are on the same land mass. There is no ocean or mountain range from one side of the border to the other. Since there is no physical border, the U.S. and Canadian economies are deeply integrated, and we need to move in that direction.”
Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that we support the idea of diversifying export markets for Canadian and Quebec businesses. This was already happening under the father of the previous prime minister, who wanted to diversify Canada’s markets. Now, let us not deceive ourselves. If we sign a trade agreement with a country that accounts for less than half of 1% of our exports and we say we are going to double that amount, it will be just 1%. If we already have a free trade agreement with Europe and even that agreement does not have a significant short-term impact on the percentage of our non-U.S. exports, we have another kind of problem. I disagree with the word “dependence”. We are not dependent on the American economy. We are on the same land mass. There is no ocean or mountain range from one side of the border to the other. Since there is no physical border, the U.S. and Canadian economies are deeply integrated, and we need to move in that direction.