Mr. Chair, the hon. gentleman spent some time in his remarks talking about the difficulty of trade negotiations. They certainly are a huge challenge, especially with the subsidy levels in the United States and in the European Union and oftentimes the determination of those two major trading entities to get together in trade negotiations at the last minute and to cook a deal between them. Oftentimes it is the interests of other countries, both developed countries like Canada and many lesser developed countries that get compromised in that process.
As we contemplate the further discussion in the Doha round, which is supposed to be the developmental round of international trade negotiations to particularly assist lesser developed economies to catch up, many of those economies are entirely agricultural economies.
Would the hon. gentleman see as a trade negotiating strategy for Canada that we might examine the opportunities to make common cause with some of the lesser developed economies which are perhaps not in the same league when it comes to agriculture as we are in Canada, but whose problems, when we look at the actual producer level issues, are magnified manyfold? It seems to me that some of those lesser developed countries may in fact have an interest in joining Canada and perhaps some other nations in saying to the Americans and the Europeans that we are not going to let them get away with it yet one more time.
In the development round, which is the Doha round, the lesser developed economies have a particular amount of clout and influence and emphasis in the flow of discussion. Where the Americans and the Europeans might try to brush Canada aside, they would have a much greater problem in trying to brush a coalition of some of the lesser developed economies aside. I wonder if there is not a coalition, a tactic, a strategy where those of us who take exception to the policies of the Europeans and the Americans might well be able to put together a useful international coalition.