Madam Speaker, this is not the first free trade agreement to be examined at the Standing Committee on International Trade and, every time, we always ask whether an impact study has been done because we presume that the government and its negotiators have to conduct impact studies. That is a fine example because we never get an answer as to whether there is one or whether one has been done. We know full well that an entrepreneur who goes to CED for financial support has to have a business plan and long term projections of the impact this will have on their company. However, the government never seems to conduct impact studies to weigh the pros and cons of everything that might come up in the years to come.
Given that the government is cutting its teeth on a free trade agreement with a very small country, with relatively limited amounts of money, I would hope that this time it did an impact study. I would like the hon. member to say a few words about that.