You quoted a number of statistics in your original brief to committee, for example, that Canada-Mexico merchandise trade has grown almost sevenfold, and Canada-Chile, threefold; Canada-Colombia two-way merchandise trade has surpassed $1.5 billion; Canada-Peru has seen a 49% increase in trade. To me these are huge numbers.
Again, I'm not discounting the Brazilian powerhouse in South America whatsoever. But I take exception to discounting the fact that these four countries have the potential to form a very serious trading bloc. We don't think twice about looking at the European Union—28 member states come July 1—as being one of the largest economies in the world, and certainly the wealthiest economy in the world. But somehow we discount South America.
I don't understand why the opposition parties don't see the value of trading north-south with countries that need our expertise when Canada is a welcome partner and is, quite frankly, many times welcomed to the table because we have the ability to trade into North America. Sometimes it's easier to trade with us than with the Americans.