Thank you, Chair, and my thanks to you gentlemen for the opportunity to learn a bit more about Brazil.
I traveled there with my wife in the 1990s to volunteer at an orphanage, and I spent some time in Portalegre, so it's good to see that we have some embassy representation there. It's a coastal community, very vibrant with lots of opportunity.
I looked at a Library of Parliament report from April 1, 2004. It says that the Brazilian and Mercosur partners approached the Government of Canada to propose the launch of a free trade negotiation, with the goal of finalizing the agreement by July 2005. The Hon. Jim Peterson, who was the minister, expressed Canada's reciprocal interest.
Here we are in 2011. Nothing ever happened then. Were you involved back in 2005?