Why do you say it's first? To me, it seems like it's last. To me, it seems like it's absolutely last. It's the last resort to get the deal done, and if they don't do it, the deal doesn't happen. That's how it appears to me when I look at these negotiations, because every party supports supply management. Every political party in this country says, “If we go to make a trade deal, supply management is not on the table.” Then ultimately, occasionally, it is on the table. To me, the only logical, inevitable conclusion is that if it wasn't on the table, there would be no deal.
When government officials came here, I asked that question. I asked, “If supply management was off the table with the United States, would there have been a deal?” They said that it would have been extremely difficult, or something to that effect, which I take to mean pretty darn near impossible. This bill will make it impossible for that concession to be made, and therefore it could very clearly affect the ability of this country to sign a future trade deal.
Do you see the logic of the statement that I'm making?