Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my hon. colleague for the comments he has made about the minister's response to the committee's work on MAI. I point out that it has now been acknowledged by the Council of Canadians and by the Canadian Council of the Arts as a matter of fact that our minister has made the whole process transparent for the first time.
Negotiations over the last 35 or 40 years were always conducted very quietly. It was not because they were private, not because they were close to the vest, but because nobody was really interested in them, not until the Internet came along. Now the Minister for International Trade has realized that the time has come to open up these negotiations and make them painfully transparent so that everybody can be bored by them as they go along over the months and years. Some people are interested and they deserve to know exactly what is happening.
I should point out that the minister has also made it clear that there are reservations which are unassailable. The provisions on the protection of culture, education, aboriginal concerns, our health care, social system and so on, Canada will continue to be master of its own house regardless of what happens.
Just briefly, I point out that because talks have now been set back until October of this year, that does not mean that they are finished or over. They will resume at that time and Canada will continue to make vigorous representations.