Yes, you were? Okay.
I'm trying to lay out the fact that these Canadian investments and pension funds were investing in Burma, in some cases a 50-50 split of assets with the junta, where there was a clear determination by the government to actually have Canadian companies withdraw investments, quite rightly, through SEMA—not existing investments, and that was something I was hoping they'd go further with.
I mention that because there was an indication that screening isn't something we should do, and I would lay out that example as something that probably most Canadians, if they were aware that this was happening.... And certainly many Canadians became aware, and it took a brutal crackdown by a repugnant regime for Canadians to become aware of it. What we're trying to do here is lay out fair rules so that everyone is going to be aware of what the responsibilities are.
And I have to say that some of the things that have been laid out here, as if we are going in to tell people how to conduct their affairs.... Yes, you can lay out that argument, but many have disagreed. We've heard lawyers come forward and entirely disagree, with all due respect, with what we've heard today.
What we're trying to do here is ensure that in cases like I've just laid out, there are clear responsibilities, clear rules, and that the good work that has been done by various people around this table is going to be furthered, and to an extent that, when there are concerns about Canadian companies abroad, there's a manner in which we can deal with them.
You've just laid out for me the reasons why we should have this. It wasn't, quite frankly, until the government invoked SEMA that CPP was really forced to do what it has done. I know you might disagree with that, but I'm stating that because we've heard from you and I'm just laying it out.
One of the things that concerns me—and I turn to our other witnesses—is the fact that we've had other jurisdictions do this. We've had jurisdictions say, “You know, when it comes to our country's brand abroad, we want our companies to perform in a certain way”. In fact, Norway has put in certain provisions on standards, in terms of their pension funds.
I'm very concerned that you think if this bill passes you're going to instruct people not to invest in Canada. That worries me, but that's your right to do so. It says that we have eight months or more to figure out regulations. How is this bill going to stranglehold anyone who's doing the right thing? There is a process here; it isn't going into a country and saying “Thou must do this”. There is a process to say that our Canadian companies who are performing in these countries have to abide by certain standards. What are you afraid of here?