Mr. Speaker, unlike the party opposite, our government believes that engagement with countries like Colombia is more effective than isolation when promoting human rights. The close ties between Canada and Colombia, including through our free trade agreement, allow us to share our values of human rights and democracy.
In opposing trade, the NDP and its special-interest backers continue to fearmonger and misrepresent the facts. It would rather have a Canada that isolates itself from the world, a Canada that does not engage with countries like Colombia. Ultimately, the NDP's Canada is a Canada that lacks confidence and a Canada that cannot compete.
Our government, on the other hand, knows that Canadians can compete with the best in the world and win. Our government is focused on the priorities of Canadians and the Canadian economy. Through our ambitious pro-trade plan, we are helping create jobs for Canadian workers and their families. This plan includes engagement with our neighbours in the Americas.
Tonight I will focus on our agreement with Colombia because through this agreement Canada's producers and exporters benefit from reduced or eliminated tariffs on nearly all of Canada's current exports to Colombia. The agreement also provides a more predictable, transparent and rules-based trading environment for Canadian investors and businesses. Members of the House will recall that the NDP opposed this agreement at every step, yet another example of its failure to stand up for new opportunities for Canadian exporters.
Canada signed the agreement concerning annual reports on human rights between Canada and the Republic of Colombia due to the unique relationship Canada has with Colombia, a relationship that includes the promotion of human rights. The agreement requires both Canada and Colombia to each produce separate annual reports on the impact of measures taken under our free trade agreement on human rights in both countries.
The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement did not enter into force until August 15, 2011. It was therefore only enforced for the last four and a half months of 2011, the calendar year covered in the report tabled in 2012. As the free trade agreement had not been in force for a full calendar year and since there were not sufficient data to do an analysis on any changes that might have taken place over such a short time period, this year's report focused on outlining the methodological steps to be followed in our future annual reports. The entire period from August 15, 2011 to December 31, 2012 will be covered in the report to be tabled in May 2013.