Evidence of meeting #17 for International Trade in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was colombian.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Have you, as an organization, looked at the electoral processes in Venezuela?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
The organization I currently work with...?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
The organization I currently work with is separate from the delegation that I attended.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Okay. I was just curious.
You speak about the terrible impact of the narco-traffickers and the drug trade on the people of Colombia. Why do you think people get involved in that? Why do you think that, as young people, they get involved in that activity?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
If you're asking my personal opinion.... Again, it was certainly not something we looked at. We looked at the democratic process in Colombia.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
No, but you spoke of drug traffickers several times as being an impediment to democratic progress in Colombia.
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
The violence created by the drug trafficking, absolutely--
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Yes, but why do you think people get involved in that drug trade?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
There are a number of reasons, but I think there are certainly organizations better able to speak to that.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
I'm asking you. You're a smart person. Why do you think people get involved in the drug trade?
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
I'm just asking you the question. When I met with people in Colombia, former FARC members and demobilized paramilitary people told me the reason they got into the drug trade is that it was the only way they had to make a living. It was the only job they could get.
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
I think that's one widely accepted reason for people getting into drug trafficking, certainly.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
What would some other widely accepted reasons be? Do they just wake up and say, “I want to join the drug trade, that looks really cool”?
I'm just curious. If you agree that one widely accepted reason is that there's no other opportunity, and if you don't have any other widely accepted reasons, then let that widely accepted reason be accepted here--
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
I said it's one of the accepted, absolutely. It's not the only one.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Well, what are the other reasons that people join the drug trade?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
Again, this isn't a field that I've studied. I think it's very complicated, as you said. I don't think somebody wakes up one day and says, “Oh, I can't wait to get involved in the drug trade.” I think people have very complicated life situations that cover a myriad of problems.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Yes, like to eat or not to eat.
But let's assume you're right. You just said it is widely accepted that people join the drug trade because there is no other economic opportunity, and that the drug trade has a pernicious effect on democracy in Colombia. So isn't providing rules-based trade opportunities in the legitimate global economy important in helping to foster peace and democracy in Colombia? Doesn't that make a lot of sense to you?
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
I think that providing rules-based trade is certainly not going to end the drug trade in Colombia. We've seen that with Plan Colombia in the United States. That has not worked in any way to positively impact the drug trade.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Okay, so tell me how not buying legitimate goods produced in Colombia will help end the drug trade.
4:10 p.m.
Director of Organizing, Council of Canadians
It's outside of the discussion, other than if you're asserting that the free trade agreement should exist because it will end the drug trade in Colombia.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Well, free trade doesn't end the drug trade in Canada either, does it?