Regarding FTAs, mention was made earlier about human rights and you said that this was not part of your mandate. As you said, human rights issues are addressed through side agreements and that reality has people rather concerned. The thing about side agreements is that clearly, they are ineffective. The problem quite often with side agreements is that they do not necessarily strike a balance between trade interests, social interests and human rights.
If you realize in the course of your negotiations that the FTA will adversely affect an industry, I imagine you have a responsibility to bring that fact to light. I do not imagine that you will encourage a Canadian industry to set up business in a region or location where it may encounter some risks. I do not imagine that all industries are interested in taking these kinds of business risks.
The United States have negotiated an FTA that has yet to be ratified. Last fall, they argued that until such time as improvements were made in certain areas, they would not be ratifying the agreement. Yet, we've been told that 50% of the problems relating to security have been resolved.
What happens in a case like this?