Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. MacKay, and to your team, we appreciate your being here today and providing some first-hand experience to enlighten our committee on this important free trade agreement with Honduras. I know we're joined here also by Her Excellency Sofia Cerrato, the Honduran ambassador to Canada and her team.
We've been working closely over the last few years with the Honduran office to try to ensure that this agreement is not only beneficial to our Canadian companies, but also that we have caring and compassionate Canadians looking at the aspect of being responsible Canadian businesses and bringing those socially responsible corporate practices to Honduras.
In your opening comments, Mr. MacKay, you said there is a provision for an article on corporate social responsibility that recognizes that both governments expect and encourage their respective companies operating abroad to observe internationally recognized standards of responsible business conduct.
We believe it's important to level the playing field to be competitive with the EU and the U.S.A. Could you enlighten the committee on what Canada is doing to ensure that Canadian companies operate in a responsible manner in Honduras?