Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present in the House petitions that are filed by hundreds of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, from British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. All of these petitioners call upon the government to halt any discussions with the Government of Colombia around a possible free trade agreement until such time as a human rights assessment that is done independently can fully ascertain the human rights situation in that country.
As you well know, Colombia has the worst human rights record in the Americas. It is a country that kills more trade unionists than any other country on the planet. More trade unionists die there than anywhere else. For all of those reasons, these Canadians are calling on the government to halt the process and allow an independent and fully impartial human rights assessment to take place before proceeding any further.