Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses. I appreciate your passion and the hard work you've done, not only in Canada but around the world, in helping people with different demands and world challenges. I'm sure you're appreciated.
Mr. Barr, we had a chance to meet in our office and have a good chat about different needs around the world...and our government's announcement today about a 28% increase in food aid, which is definitely needed as well for 800-million-plus people around the world who are going without a full meal. We're trying to do our part there. Canada, I think, is a good example today. We're all sitting around this table trying to make sure we're being recognized for doing our part. It's no different from going to Colombia. I appreciate you bringing these facts forward.
As my colleague, Mr. Cardin, alluded to, we've had a variety of witnesses come to the table just prior to your presence, including some folks strongly advocating for bilateral agreements, while the World Trade Organization's talks move along at a snail's pace. We need to, as a country, continue to move forward and work on trade agreements, while other countries have as well. That's why we're exploring this free trade agreement. Definitely, this is what we're doing, looking at the pros and cons and making sure it's free and fair trade, as we talked about before.
Whether it's violence against trade unionists or non-trade unionists--I'm not an advocate of violence against anybody. We want to make sure that we do find out--and I appreciate your comments--about the people who are there who have certain agendas behind their presence, and try to get at the real heart of the matter.
We had people appear at our committee who said the overall theme is that there's a 30% increase in the exports in the economy of Colombia, and we've seen a general decrease in violence by 40%. Murders are down by 50%. Kidnappings are down by 90%. Forty-five thousand paramilitaries and guerrillas have been demobilized. The fact is, it's not perfect in Colombia, but it's headed in the right direction.
We had one witness, Dean Beyea, who came to our last meeting, and he said:
Certainly they're not getting there overnight. There is considerable work to do. No one would argue that. But certainly it appears to be on the right path, and certainly the foreign direct investment into the Colombian market is indicative that they are on the right path. It's a good opportunity for Canada, and Canadian industry has an interest in investment in that country. It's not to say it's perfect, and there are certainly security concerns, but the proof is all positive.
So you say we need to progress before engaging in a free trade agreement, and I think we've seen some significant progress.
Again, Mr. Barr, you mentioned that you'd like to see empirical evidence of free trade. In Canada, as we've expanded as a country, we've seen growth and democracy and respect for human rights in our own country, and it's nothing more than...I'd like to be able to see other countries prosper.
So my question is, what would you like to see as far as further empirical evidence is concerned before a free trade agreement is signed with Colombia?