Mr. Speaker, according to the agreement, Chile or other countries can join NAFTA if they accept the terms negotiated by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The consent of Mexico, Canada and the United States is required if another country wishes to join. Provided Chile does not request major changes, the agreement provides that other countries may join, subject to the approval of participating members of NAFTA.
I know Chile is anxious to join NAFTA, and Canada is very supportive of Chile's bid at this time. In fact, this government has always maintained it did not want an exclusively bilateral agreement with the United States. We feel it is very useful to have an agreement that includes Mexico and other countries, since this would counterbalance the enormous power of the United States.