Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to speak again briefly on this point, because it is a very important one.
Adding a sunset clause would require us to go back to the negotiating table with the United Kingdom, leaving our business community, particularly our Canadian exporters, without the certainty that they need or, quite frankly, the access to the U.K. market that they require in this, the middle of a pandemic.
I would also mention that adding a sunset clause further reduces predictability and stability because we do not know how the negotiations will go with the United Kingdom on a comprehensive free trade agreement. I do not think that it is in the interest of Canadian businesses to have the possibility of a gap between the time when the sunset clause should end and when the negotiations should be finalized on a full free trade agreement. I would note that it would provide extra pressure on our negotiators to perhaps cede things that we wouldn't normally cede in negotiations were we to have a finite end date.
I would also like to add, with respect to the member's comments regarding the consultations that were done in advance of this transitional agreement, there were 10 years of negotiations under CETA. This is a rollover of CETA. It is what we have been saying for quite some time now. Members now have in front of them the text of the agreement and the enabling legislation, and they can see quite clearly that it is a reproduction of CETA until we have a full and comprehensive free trade agreement.
I would be remiss if I did not add that those consultations were commenced by the Conservative government at the time and that those consultations were very effective.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.