Thank you very much, Chair.
That was a healthy discussion around fair trade, and I think Mr. Julian will have an opportunity to continue that discussion.
I have a different perspective that I'd like to pursue. I know you know all this stuff, but I just want to reinforce again that the purpose of our discussion today is really to highlight the importance of trade and what it means to Canada, in light of the fact that 40% of our economy is based on exports. A vast majority of that is predicated on SMEs. I'm glad you mentioned that in your presentation, because 97% of the export that is done is really on the backbones of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The emphasis on Central and South America is important, because we also have not only an economic angle that we want to pursue or economic ties, we also have similarities in cultural communities that are represented here. Strong cultural communities are represented in Canada, so we have that expertise that we can leverage as well to get a better understanding of culture, language, heritage, and so forth.
My concern is just the region itself. Idealistically, when we speak of the Andean community, for instance, it has Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. There seems to be a diversion of views on how they want to approach free trade. I'm not sure if it was discussed before my arrival here, but that is something I wanted to ask you about.
There seem to be two schools of thought. Venezuela is no longer a part of it, but at least Bolivia wants regional integration, and you have Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru that want a true liberalizing of trade. Is that still a factor today, and to what extent?