Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I think Ms. Liu clarified that we were both sort of quoting Ms. Bertha Oliva who appeared before the panel, so I thought for clarity I'd actually read the transcript.
Her quote before this committee was as follows:
We are not proposing isolation for Honduras. We don't want that. We don't want Honduras to be isolated from Canada or from the world. What we are saying is that we want the governments of the world and the Government of Canada to monitor the situation more [closely]....
She then goes on to talk about rights, human rights,and engagement.
This question is for you, Mr. Bannantine, and then anyone who would like to add their perspective. Certainly we're having the debate about our free trade agreement, both in the House and here at committee. We've talked a lot about engagement. In your experience, have you been able to see, and not just through the jobs, the positive benefits of a country like Canada trading with Honduras but also engaging with Honduras on a broader level?
As part of our government's economic diplomacy, we don't just trade with these nations, we also make sure they're a country of priority on a development basis. So we help build capacity with their justice system, we work with training and improving investigations and prosecutions for the murder rate that we've heard about. We've seen the benefit in Colombia to this approach. Do you feel there is the potential to see a stronger Honduras as a result of Canadian engagement?