International Trade committee  No.

International Trade committee  I'll go briefly on that issue. It seems to me that when you're talking about the enforceability of trade agreements you're always talking some combination of law and some combination of political will. It is not difficult. We write contracts every single day that are quickly enf

International Trade committee  I've been practising labour law in Canada for 17 years. The reality is that workers choose whether to have a union or not. Workers are entitled to express their opinions in the workplace or outside the workplace as to whether they want to sign a union membership card or not.

International Trade committee  The fact is that Canada increasingly doesn't reflect ILO. It doesn't respect ILO core labour standards either, as far as the right to strike and freedom of association. But we like to think that in Canada workers and trade unions have at least some mechanisms by which to try to e

International Trade committee  I agree with that. I could go on at length about specific clauses I would change, and so on. I'm not sure that would benefit. I think there needs to be an overall impact assessment on these kinds of agreements. Then there needs to be a more inclusive, transparent, and democratic

International Trade committee  I'm not aware of any. If you look at all the literature I have seen, and obviously NAFTA is the example that has the longest track record, economic, equality, labour, and trade union rights in all three of the NAFTA signatories countries—Canada, the United States, and Mexico—have

International Trade committee  That's a large question.

International Trade committee  I'm not sure I understand the question, to be perfectly blunt about it. I'm not trying to be evasive, but—

International Trade committee  Sorry.

International Trade committee  Yes, that's what I would argue. Yes.

International Trade committee  No. It doesn't say that, no.

International Trade committee  The short answer is no. I will speak on two levels to that question. Again, I have been involved in numerous complaints that were filed under the NAFTA labour side agreements. I have used those complaints. Without exception they have all ended with ministerial consultations tha

International Trade committee  We did not support the free trade agreement, certainly, with Colombia. I'm not sure we took a particular position on the Panama free trade agreement. But yes, as you point out, the provisions are very similar.

International Trade committee  Again, to pick up on your former point, because Canada has now essentially adopted a template for trade agreements—

International Trade committee  Let me finish. It's a template to which we have never particularly subscribed. It's therefore not surprising that we haven't supported any of the template agreements the Canadian government has entered into. If I could address your first point—