Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to also acknowledge your presence and welcome you here to Canada. We're delighted, Mr. Ambassador, that you're here. Panama has been well served by your predecessor, His Excellency Carlo Escobar. We very much look forward to your following in those steps in having a very successful time. You will actually be the ambassador in place when the Canada-Panama free trade agreement is put in place.
Welcome. We're just delighted by this, and we're honoured to have your colleague here as well. I echo Mr. Keddy's comments. It's rather interesting that Mr. Keddy has grown natural highlights since this Panama free trade deal started.
It's been going through a few different intercessions. This is our third time, and we think this will be a charm. It's our hope that we will have this done. I hope for the sake of all of our colleagues that we will be supportive and show good faith to Panama. I would say that in the last Parliament the Liberal Party, which today is the third party, was very supportive. I have no doubt that they will be again, and it's my hope that our colleagues in the official opposition ultimately will feel the same way. That might be a shift, but I certainly appreciate the spirit of the words that I've heard, so perhaps there will be some movement there.
Mr. Ambassador, you made reference about the United States agreement being in place by the end of October. We certainly heard that from our officials this past week. My concern is with Canada not being quite there and our not moving this as quickly as we should have already done; however, we are where we are today. What kind of disadvantage do you think Canada might experience in its relationship with Panama as a result of this trade deal still not being passed? Do you have some thoughts?