Thank you.
To Spirits Canada and Pulse Canada, I've been on the trade committee--I am a senior ranking member now--for six years. We've often heard presentations about how bilateral trade agreements are going to open up new markets. But the statistics are actually showing the contrary.
We signed a trade agreement and implemented it with Costa Rica. We were exporting $77-million worth of exports at that time. And now, through 2004, 2007, it's at $73 million. The Canadian exports abroad in Costa Rica, after the signing of the bilateral trade agreement, declined.
The same with Chile; 10 years of decline after implementing the trade agreement.