Statement made on 04 February 2009 by Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein (retired)
Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein:
Honourable senators, last week by happenstance I attended in Washington on the same day that the stimulus package, which was replete with protectionist provisions, hit the floor of the United States Senate.
It is important for all honourable senators to understand that the protectionist sentiment in the United States does not come from the President of the United States but from Congress where these feelings run deeply. The protectionist sentiment is an important priority for the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group and all other senators who wish to participate in this effort to convince our American colleagues in the House of Representatives and in the Senate that protectionism is a backward street that leads to deflation and lack of growth. Free trade and freer trade is the pathway to prosperity and growth.
This issue is important at this time. I urge all honourable senators to use their contacts and relationships with congressmen and senators to make the argument that the path to protectionism is a dead-end street. This issue is current and pressing, and the protectionist sentiments have not disappeared.
Yesterday, delightfully, President Obama encouraged his senators to dilute the protectionist elements in the stimulus bill. Why is President Obama's encouragement important to us? It is important because the stimulus bill in the United States is as important to Canada as our own action plan. Fifty per cent of the demand in Canada for our goods and products comes from the United States. We have a vested interest in ensuring that the stimulus package works as well in the United States as it does here.
I urge all honourable senators to undertake to visit the United States. We have travel points; we are able to travel. Any connection, any relationship is important. Each senator and each congressman is as important as the President of the United States. Go to it, honourable senators. It is hard work. I hope that honourable senators will participate in this important activity.