Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the concern expressed by my colleague across the way. It is the right and responsibility of every citizen of the country to be concerned and as fully informed as possible on all these issues.
My friend should understand that interaction between two countries goes both ways. There is the part of any agreement that resides in Canada and there is the other part that resides in the other country. In other words, when investment takes place part of that agreement is designed to protect our investment in other countries. It is a complete two way street.
My friend talked about consultation. I should like to read into the record part of a bulletin from the Canadian Conference of the Arts in terms of consultation. It points out that the minister has done much to make the process of negotiating trade agreements much more transparent to the Canadian people. He has ushered in a new era for negotiations where interested Canadians can inform themselves and participate in the shaping of ideas and positions Canada takes to the negotiating table.
In other words this process was initiated by my minister. It is well under way. The people of Canada are now able through mechanisms we have established to make their views known.