My comments are along the same lines as those of my colleague Mr. Cardin. Obviously we have some serious reservations. Is the government involved in these human rights violations? One thing is clear, namely that it is not doing anything at this time to restore order in Colombia.
Our government is saying that it wants to have economic relations with another regime when it does not really know how that country is being governed and or when it appears that our own values and environmental standards are not being respected. All of the impact studies that have been done show that the current situation is Colombia is not particularly good. Any free trade negotiations must be viewed from that perspective.
If I had a business relationship with a company and did not know if the CEO of the company treated his employees well, I am sure that I would question this relationship. I would not want to do business with a company that could make things difficult for me. It makes sense for Canada to suspend its bilateral negotiations with Colombia until we get a clearer picture of the actual situation in that country and until the human rights issue is brought to the forefront.
In a business relationship, it is critical to know the party with whom we are doing business. I fail to understand why some people are hesitant about stepping in. Canadians who will be investing in Colombia must be protected as well. The government is negotiating a bilateral agreement without knowing all of the problems that could potentially arise. The important thing here is to get a clearer overall picture of the situation.
We cannot accept anything less than this motion.