Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I apologize for my colleague's behaviour earlier. I have a few additional questions for you.
Mr. Vaillancourt, as Mr. Laforest just asked, what have we heard from the Panamanian government? According to the representative who testified two days ago, signing a tax information exchange agreement is a non-starter. He said—and you can find this in the “blues”—that, since such an agreement is not in the interest of the Panamanian economy, his country would not sign it. That's been made very clear.
Our government is acting like the agreement is still on the table and is still being negotiated, but the Panamanian government has said that the agreement will definitely not be signed because the country's economy would be affected.
Do you think that the link between the Panamanian economy and money laundering activities, and often, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, drug dealers accounts for the Panamanian government's refusal to sign this agreement, which should be a mandatory prerequisite to a free-trade agreement?
Mr. Vaillancourt, did you not understand that this question was addressed to you?