Other witnesses, including Ms. Alepin and Mr. Deneault, told us the exact same thing. They said that, by signing the agreement, Canada would be legitimizing a money-laundering process. The international mafia would take advantage of such an agreement to launder even more money.
You said it would be utopian to even consider the possibility of a tax information exchange agreement. We suggested such an agreement to the minister, who said he had sent a letter to his Panamanian counterpart, but had received no response. I think this agreement is becoming more and more of a pipe dream. The negotiator did say that it was not in Panama's interest to sign a tax information exchange agreement.
I think that he gave us a fairly clear answer. It's obvious to us that, if Canada doesn't sign a tax information exchange agreement, we cannot really vote in favour of the free-trade agreement, and we will not. In addition, it was only after we asked for the preliminary agreement that we realized Panama is not really interested in one.
I would like to ask Ms. Healy a question. The group you represent, the CLC, is important. I support what Mr. Vaillancourt said to the effect that Canada is concluding a free-trade agreement for the first time with a country that is considered a tax haven. Isn't that an astonishing fact? You talked a lot about workers' rights. Is that another area your group is looking into?