Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present in the House a petition signed by hundreds of Canadians from major cities across the country, in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and from various cities in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, from Dartmouth to Bathurst to Toronto to Cambridge to Sudbury.
The petitioners call upon the government to halt the negotiations on Canada-Colombia trade deals. They are deeply disturbed by the complete abdication from human rights that we have seen in Colombia, the fact that more trade unionists are killed in Colombia than anywhere else on earth, and the ongoing paramilitary violence and connections between the paramilitaries and the Colombian government.
The petitioners do not believe the government is keeping human rights at the forefront in the current negotiations. They therefore ask that the government halt any further negotiations on Canada-Colombia trade deals until there is a full, complete and impartial human rights assessment in Colombia. Following that, they ask that any trade agreement negotiated be done on a fair trade model, ensuring social, environmental and labour rights are maintained.