Thank you very much, Minister.
I want to jump right into the process that's been established post the issuance of the draft text by the chairman.
All WTO members received the draft text on fishery subsidies back in late November 2007, yet Canada did not put forward a position until late April, and it was not actually circulated to WTO members until the very beginning of May. That's almost five months later. Then, 26 calendar days later, the chairman put forward the 282-page working document based on all of the information he had received. So 26 days later, the chairman put out a working document. The changes that Canada had put forward were really not very well highlighted in that document. In fact, based on your statement, there's really not too much in the chairman's statement or working document indicating we're having much success in changing the way that draft text is going to read at the end of the day.
My concern is that somebody is dropping the ball here. Why did it take five months for a request for a de minimis exemption to be put forward by Canada? Why did it take that long? Is part of the reason that there's an issue of accountability here?
The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada is not directly involved in these negotiations; he's consulted, but he's not directly involved. You as the international trade minister are the lead minister, yet it's the Department of Finance that is actually the lead of the negotiations team. There seems to be a disconnect between the views and the priorities here in Ottawa versus what's happening over at the WTO.
Why wouldn't the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and an official of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans head up the fishery subsidies negotiations, as they do in agriculture? I understand that for the agricultural committee, it is a senior official from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food who's in charge of those discussions, and they answer directly to the Minister of Agriculture, who works with you. On the fisheries file, it's completely different.
That, it seems to me—if you want an editorial comment—is one of the chief reasons why we are not succeeding when it comes to fisheries in the WTO file.