Thank you, sir.
Welcome, panel, and thanks to all of you for the presentations.
I'm going to be tying my questions in with all three, if I may.
Shirley-Ann, you talked about leading by example. I was really pleased to hear that, especially as we put these trade agreements together. I remember that years ago when we were going to other nations--I'm not going to name them specifically--we were hammered in terms of labour rights, child labour, and environmental issues, etc.
I think the comment we had as a Liberal government at that time was that if we didn't go there to show them new innovative ways and examples and set standards, they'd never change. I can name some; China, for example, has made a quantum leap forward by us being there. I'd like you to elaborate on that, if you would.
If I may quote you, I really enjoyed hearing “rules-based system”. Could you elaborate a little on that in terms of how we've done, what we've negotiated, how they see it, and how they see us as partners coming in?
With respect to the pork industry, first of all, I think, there's the fact that so many were there. It's good news that you ran out; it just goes to show you that we stood behind you and will continue to stand behind the industry.
With respect to the U.S., could you could elaborate for me a little on the duty-free quota that you talked about and how that works? Also, you said it's “not a significant market, but presents an opportunity”. It's not a significant market today, but do you see it as a potential market?
The third part of my question, which I'll close with, is with respect to the Labour Congress. I'm puzzled, because, as I'm sure all others do, I get elected in an area where jobs are very important to pay for mortgages, put food on the table, and pay for kids to go to school. I don't know if I got the wrong message, sir, but if I understood correctly, you're asking Canada to stay away from everything.
You talked about the bad trade deals that we've had in the past. I don't mean to say this to be biased toward my colleagues who are now in government, but surely I recall that in the tenure we experienced as a Liberal government from 1993 until most recently, there was unprecedented growth in terms of jobs. A good portion of those jobs, if I understood correctly, resulted from exports. Are you saying to me that we did not do well by creating growth for Canada and that we should go the other way by staying an esoteric country?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those are my questions.