Until now, the NDP have refused to take a position on the trade deal, insisting they want to wait until the full text of deal is tabled in the House and implementing legislation has been drafted. The Conservative amendment, though, forces the party to decide whether they support at least the agriculture part of the trade deal or not.
The full text of the amendment is as follows:
That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “that” and substituting the following: “The First Report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, presented to the House on Thursday, March 27, 2014, be not now concurred in but that, in view of the subsequent conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and its final text having been published the Report be referred back to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food with instruction that it amend the same so as to recommend that the Agreement represents an appropriate balance between creating opportunities for agricultural and food exporters and maintaining the system of supply management and, therefore, Canada’s free trade agreement with the European Union should be implemented as negotiated.
Wednesday night, the NDP voted against the Conservatives’ amendment after the party’s own sub-amendment, that would have seen a guarantee of financial support for affected industries, failed by a vote of 143-113.
The NDP then voted against the amended motion, which passed by a vote of 173 to 82. The Liberals and Conservatives both voted for the amendment and the subsequent motion.
The Conservative amendment came, Tuesday, in the middle of the resumption of a concurrence debate on the report – a debate that was triggered by the NDP.
NDP Deputy Agriculture Critic Ruth Ellen Brosseau asked for the debate after the Official Opposition deemed the government’s response to the report’s recommendations inadequate. The government’s answers, several NDP MPs argued were too vague.
In debate, the NDP demanded for more information about the yet-to-be-outlined promise to provide compensation to dairy farmers who might be hurt by the deal. The party also wants stronger assurances CETA will not set a precedent for other compromises to supply management in future trade deals.
Under CETA, the federal government would allow 16,000 tonnes of additional European fine cheese and 1,700 tonnes of industrial cheese into Canada. While the federal government has repeatedly insisted the change should be absorbed by the markets, Canadian dairy farmers disagree.
Dairy Farmers of Canada, who represent the country’s 12,500 dairy farms, has repeatedly insisted the Europeans will hold 32 per cent of the country’s fine cheese market.
“I am not sure what I can vote for and what I am supporting if I have never seen the bill. The Conservatives do not have one,” Agriculture Critic Malcolm Allen said. “…The bottom line is they do not have a bill. They have an agreement in principle and they have some additional new text that explains it, but they do not have a bill.”
While Allen said he’d like to see an implementing bill before Christmas, Conservative MPs gave no indication a bill would be tabled in the House anytime soon.
The latest parliamentary skirmish over CETA began on Nov. 7, the Friday before the House rose for its break week and continued late Tuesday night until it’s conclusion around 10:30 p.m.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Kelsey Johnson
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