Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to present to the House today, which calls on the House of Commons not to proceed with the Canada-Colombia trade deal.
The petitioners are extremely concerned about human rights violations and violence against workers and members of civil society by paramilitary groups in Colombia that are closely connected to the current government and the current president.
More than 2,200 trade unionists have been murdered since 1991, and there has been a host of violence against Afro-Colombians, human rights activists, workers, farmers, labour leaders and journalists.
The petitioners state that the Colombia trade deal follows a framework similar to NAFTA and that the NAFTA trade deal has not been effective in protecting labour standards, as in the case of Mexico where over one million agricultural jobs have been lost since NAFTA was signed.
The petitioners also state that labour protection and environmental protection are not adequate.
That is why Canada should not proceed with this deal.