Good morning.
I want to tell you about our major concerns.
First, we previously heard from the members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers. They spoke to us about concerns regarding workers' rights in certain countries where bilateral agreements were reached, and even in the context of the WTO, on a broader scale.
I believe this is a relatively important issue. I think that, if capital moves to other countries just as certain businesses relocate, if people's working conditions and quality of life are lower, corporate profits increase temporarily, but that will have an impact on our quality of life and working conditions.
What are your concerns about the signing of these bilateral agreements? Do you actually have any concerns? Do you focus on that, or is it something very minor in your negotiations as a whole?
Second, as regards these bilateral agreements, some industrial sectors are undermined. That's the case of an agreement with Korea, which we think may affect our automotive industry, as well as of other WTO agreements. For example, there's the problem of the textile industry. Currently there's talk about the furniture industry and the impact that these free trade agreements are having on eventual business closures here at home.
However, in the furniture industry, for example, we realize that there are also export opportunities, whether it be to Taiwan, China or elsewhere. However, I realize that our businesses are concerned as to whether our products will come back. There are also costs, which are very high when we want to export our products, whether it be to China or elsewhere.
In the circumstances, are there any existing programs that could be improved in order to assist our businesses? Could larger investments be made in the sectors whose viability is threatened? Where there are export opportunities, could we put in place programs that would improve the ability of our industries to export to those countries and enhance the visibility of our products? These programs would support our industries in future efforts in that direction.