Thank you again, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, it's quite common in Canadian provisions and trade agreements on the environment to provide a number of obligations on both parties. One of them, that I have read in previous agreements, makes it very clear that the parties to the agreement are legally obligated not to reduce or in any way degrade their environmental standards or regulations for the purpose of attracting trader investment.
The environmental provisions in this agreement do not contain a clear enough provision in that regard, so my amendment is to provide that clarity. The amendment says:
For greater certainty, in relation to the objective referred to in paragraph 7(f), no federal law establishing environmental protection standards may be repealed—or amended so that its effect is diminished—in order to facilitate increased investment under the Agreement.
Mr. Chairman, I don't think that this is inconsistent with the chapter on the environment or with any of the objectives of the party, so I don't think either the Government of Korea or the Government of Canada would have any objection to this kind of clarity.
I would respectfully submit that this improves the chapter in this regard.