This amendment, Mr. Chairman, would require the minister...well, let me back up.
The current clause says the minister is the principal representative of Canada on the joint commission, which is part of the administrative structure of the free trade agreement between Canada and Panama, and the amendment of the New Democrats would require the minister, in the performance of this function, to consult on a regular basis with representatives of Canadian business, labour, environmental and human rights organizations.
Briefly, Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this amendment is fairly obvious. Trade agreements are not signed for the governments of the countries; rather, they're signed by the governments of the countries for the people of the countries. The people of the countries who will actually be most affected by the free trade agreement are the stakeholders that I mentioned: the business community, labour groups, environmental groups and human rights organizations. They have an important stake in seeing that this agreement or any free trade agreement is carried out, and monitoring that.
Any responsible government would want to consult regularly with representatives of those groups to see how things are going in the discharge of their duties as a representative on the joint commission. This amendment would make that consultation a requirement. I would urge all parliamentarians on this committee to require our minister to consult with those stakeholder groups, including, I might emphasize, business, who would be involved in this.