I can certainly assure you that we have done a comprehensive analysis of what Canada can expect to gain from being a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what the expectations would be of our membership within that group of trading nations.
As you know, these assessments are done by officials within my department. They are also done by my team within the department. We, of course, were able to determine that there was a very significant benefit to Canada being at the table.
We had discussions with all of the existing partners. They obviously wanted to determine the level of ambition that Canada would bring to the table in terms of trade liberalization. I did remind them, Mr. Easter, that Canada is one of the most liberalized economies in the world and that they could expect Canada to be a very productive and helpful partner at the negotiating table.
I can tell you that in the last two rounds in which we have engaged, even the nine partners that were there very much appreciated how well prepared Canadian negotiators were and how easily they integrated into the process.