Thank you, Chair.
I'd like to thank our guests for being here today. I really appreciate this. It's interesting, and I'm not sure if you're familiar with a show on television called The Twilight Zone. It went back many years ago and has been reconstituted today. The setting basically is of someone going into a dream and then waking up and they're not sure if it's still the current reality or the next reality.
I find it really curious, as someone who has been on this committee since I was elected several years ago, remembering the NDP being so aggressively against the free trade deal with Colombia. They were so strong. They condemned Colombia, accusing it them of government-sponsored deaths, corruption, association with FARC, subjugation of citizens, subjugation of trade unions. It was unbelievable and it was brutal, even though from our standpoint we felt there were so many optimistic things to do with Colombia.
But I want to give a bouquet to the New Democratic Party because I think through the leadership shown by Mr. Davies, it certainly seems that they now have an enlightened approach. And I say this with deep respect. I want to say thank you for the approach you've taken.
But then I contrast that with my colleague from the Liberal Party who supported strongly the position of Colombia and would say so. But I've heard him talk at length about Colombia and other deals and I wonder just how much worse Canada would be if we didn't have free trade deals, because now it seems that we have Liberal Party who is against removing tariffs. They seem to be against making rules and investor provisions clear for folks who are trying to do business in Colombia. They're against the dispute settlement mechanism, and they must be, because I constantly hear the member from the third party say how bad it is that we do these deals, because look at these trade deficits.
I just don't get it. I'm not sure if it's an affliction of being the third party at a time. I say this with no disrespect, but it feels like a role reversal.