I'm sure we have very experienced trade negotiators who have successfully conducted very beneficial trade agreements for Canada with countries across the world. My only suggestion is let's be pragmatic when we have a free trade agreement. The environmental chapter is important, because that is one of our objectives too, but as we know, we are just one of the two partners at the table. There's only one of us, so let's also give due consideration to the interests of Canada, Canadian economic interests and Canadian trade interests. At the end of the day, our prosperity that we enjoy today is only due to international trade, which contributes about 67% of our GDP. Let's not forget the big picture when we have agreements and negotiations with small markets or big markets, etc.
With my limited time, I want to ask a question that was touched on by my colleague. Will the free trade agreement with Ecuador create a base for Canadian companies to explore further into the region where we don't have free trade agreements? Can Ecuador act as a base to open doors to channel our exports and trade to other countries in the region?