That's interesting, because having seen the standards by which.... Canadian industry in these various countries is the model for the world. I say that with great pride about Canadian extractive responsibilities, not just in South America and Central America, by the way, but around the world.
I've been to Brazil. The sense I have from the Brazilian government, from Lula's government to the current government, is that they have a deep respect for our relationship with them. Canada is regarded very highly by Brazil. Here is my question.
For some of the reasons I outlined before, I believe there are Canadian advantages to solidifying this Pacific Alliance. What's interesting is that every time we've talked about any trade agreement in the world, Doha usually comes up, so I'll bring it up this time for fun. As I have said before, Doha is as dead as Elvis Presley, but people look at that kind of romantically, as if that's somehow the goal we should attain.
Here we have another trade pact, four countries which we do individual deals with, and we are trying to put it together in a package, as we do in a variety of packages around the world, to make us basically closer to that multilateralism, which you sound like you support, and I hear that as a word but I'm not sure that I'm hearing it in fact. Isn't this just another multilateral attempt, as we have with CETA, as we will be doing, we hope, with the TPP and other things?
Why does this agreement necessarily have to be what I would consider a zero sum game? That is to say, why do you have to do Brazil instead of? We already trade with Brazil significantly. We already trade with every country in the world in various capacities. Could there not be an argument that this in fact could assist us in some of our negotiations and dialogue with countries like Brazil which, as I think you've rightly pointed out, is the dominant player in South America?
May I have your thoughts, please?