Thank you for this opportunity to speak. I'd like to ask the committee to seriously consider who this deal is good for. We know that it's good for the winners. We know that it's good for the Magnas, but we also know what's happening in this country, that our income inequality is increasing by leaps by bounds, that more and more Canadians are falling into poverty, that we now have one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world.
Deals like this are a race to the bottom for most of us. All of you, as well as thinking about the overall GDP, which by the way is not going to increase at all to any great degree under this deal, also have to think about the real Canadians that you represent.
As Mr. Fonseca has said, the TPP needs to be looked at by our parliamentarians holistically and I congratulate all the members of this committee on the extraordinary way you've dealt with this learning curve over the last few weeks.
What about your colleagues in the House? I've spoken to the MPs in my area. We've got two new Liberals down there in Niagara and they're struggling as hard as they can just to learn the job.
This is an extraordinarily complex deal as I know you now appreciate. How on earth are your colleagues going to be prepared to vote on this?
I ask you to please consider this and find some way of extending the discussion and particularly the discussion with ordinary Canadians on this deal or you do us all a terrible disservice.
Thank you.