Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We have to be careful not to exaggerate the benefits and underestimate the negatives of this deal. Let's try to stick to the facts. I know that's difficult for the parliamentary secretary to do.
My first question is to you, Ms. Kunin. While the government members like to claim otherwise—that they've been great traders and we've been doing so well on trade—the facts dictate otherwise. In the last 46 months, 34 of them have placed us in a merchandise trade deficit. Sometimes even with a deficit, our economy still grows and there are supply chain benefits that happen. I understand that.
We're going into these trade agreements. What do we have to do to ensure that we get ourselves in a trade surplus position rather than a trade deficit?
I'll make one other point. It's interesting that wherever Canada has signed trade deals, on a surplus-deficit basis we're not doing as well as we once did. We're doing something wrong as a country. I'm not talking against the trade agreement, but how do we get into a trade surplus position instead of a deficit?