Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been negotiating this agreement for at least two years.
Before the election we saw red book II, in which we did not see any mention of MAI. We heard no mention about MAI in the throne speech and I was surprised when I saw this report on multilateral agreement on investment marked confidential. This report would not be in my hands if it was not leaked to us.
Why was this government negotiating in confidence without letting Canadians know what the benefits or costs to Canadians are? Why was this government afraid to have a public discussion on this issue? Why was this government afraid of calling a public debate on this issue? Why was the government afraid of having an informed discussion on this issue?
We are asking a simple thing. We want public discussion on this issue. We want debate in the House. Can this member inform us why he is afraid of having a discussion in this House?