Thank you, very much, Mr. Chair. And I'd like to thank the departmental officials as well.
As I mentioned to the Colombian ambassador in our last meeting, this issue is gaining a lot of attention at the grassroots level. I've received many e-mails; many people are concerned about it. Many people are watching this free trade agreement very closely, and many of my constituents have written to me. Their concern revolves around human rights, and I want to speak to that issue specifically.
I just want to share with you some of the key statistics that have been brought to my attention. I want your perspective on whether these statistics are in line with what you think is correct and pertinent in this particular free trade agreement. They are that fewer than 3% of the killings in Colombia have been solved, that 78 trade unionists were murdered in 2006, and that Colombia has one of the highest rates of killings of trade unionists in the world. These are specific facts that come to mind.
The concern that many people have raised--NGOs, human rights organizations--is with respect to dismantling the paramilitary mafias, prosecuting paramilitary, and ending the killing of trade unionists. That's how they genuinely view these issues, and they put them in those three categories.
My concern is with respect to what you outlined in your opening remarks with regard to the environment, human rights, and labour agreements being side agreements. I wanted to get your perspective on this, and I've asked the Colombian ambassador about this as well. Could we have, not in the side agreements but in the actual text, in the actual free trade agreement, enforceable provisions on labour and the environment to make them more meaningful, to make sure these concerns are addressed?
You alluded to some of the economic benefits of this free trade agreement, and there's no denying that there is tremendous potential in that area. But the concern that many people have raised is around the environment and human rights. They feel the side agreements won't necessarily address these issues, these key stats that I mentioned to you.
I wanted to get your thoughts on whether it's plausible. Is it possible? Is it something that we should be strategically doing, putting these into the major text as opposed to putting them in the side agreements, and having enforceable provisions on labour, environment, and human rights?
I wanted your thoughts on that.