Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise this evening and to once again raise the issue of Canada's position with respect to the trade agreement with South Korea. The trade agreement with South Korea would result in the loss of manufacturing jobs across this country and, in particular, in the auto industry.
I have been raising this issue since 2004 when the then prime minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, entered into negotiations for a trade deal with South Korea.
We are concerned about this trade deal because of the vulnerability of the manufacturing industry. Since 2003, over 250,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost and since January approximately 50,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost, often in the automotive sector.
It is important to note that the present government has not put forth an automotive sector strategy. The Minister of International Trade, a former Liberal and industry minister at the time, promised me a number of times in this chamber, as well as at committee, that he would bring forth an auto policy but he never did. As a Conservative, he has continued the trade negotiation talks with South Korea.
I note the detriment to this, which was basically offered up by Department of Industry officials who admitted in a meeting that South Korea would be out of the deal if they did not get the automotive sector on the plate. Why South Korea wants greater automotive access into Canada is because right now it has non-tariff barriers that actually prevent the sale of Canadian vehicles in South Korea. With the trade deficit being so huge right now I do not know why the Conservative government would want to expand that and create greater problems for the Canadian manufacturing sector. It is beyond me.
We just need to look at the facts. In 2005, South Korea exported 118,000 vehicles to Canada. What did we export into South Korea? We exported 400 vehicles. What an incredible imbalance. This is unacceptable. The government continues to go down a path that will further expose the Canadian market to these vehicles. I think the government is doing it for some type of political gain to say, for example, that it might perhaps beat the Americans to a deal with South Korea.
Even though the United States has concluded negotiations, the truth of the deal is coming out. Many people in the manufacturing sector and the agricultural sector are telling the United States government not to go forward with this plan. What is interesting is the fact that at least the United States congress will have a chance to debate the deal and actually vote on it.
I am asking the government if it will allow Parliament to have the opportunity to see the deal, debate the deal and, more important, vote our conscience on this deal. We need to know how it could affect Canadian manufacturers and Canadian citizens. We should at least get the same opportunity as the United States is giving so there can be accountability. I ask the government to at least do that if it is not going to back away from these negotiations and continues to offer up the automotive sector as a sacrificial lamb at the expense of Canadian workers.