International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  As I said in my opening remarks, when we sign trade agreements of this kind, when we include the respect of basic labour standards, we are at least assured that employers in those countries, or even here when you come right down to it, will not take the opportunity to violate rights in order to obtain unjustified advantages on the backs of their workers.

International Trade committee  To my knowledge, the CSN has not been consulted either.

International Trade committee  What I am saying is that, at the moment, we do not have the conditions to properly evaluate the effects of free trade in an already-difficult business climate. For that reason, it is quite difficult to give an informed answer to the question. The current situation concerns us greatly, and the job losses that we are going through at the moment add to the concern, as I said.

International Trade committee  Yes. We can say that information is easily available. As I said earlier, the International Trade Union Confederation produces an annual report that lists violations of human and union rights. If you want a copy of their report, I can get you one. The organization, I feel, is concerned about the fact that when basic rights are under attack, especially those of the ILO, the workers bear the brunt of the comparative advantage.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Good afternoon. On behalf of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, I thank you for this invitation to testify about our concerns about the negotiation of a free trade agreement with Korea. The Confédération des syndicats nationaux is the second largest labour organization in Quebec, representing more than 300,000 workers in all sectors of the economy, mostly in Quebec.