Mr. Speaker, we are a trading country, a small market of some 35 million that requires access for our most skilled workforce in the world to markets around the world. That includes public procurement.
In fact, we saw the folly of the decision of provinces and territories to stay out of that area in the 1980 North American Free Trade Agreement, when we were hit with buy American policies. We do not want the same thing to happen again. We want to ensure Canadian workers and businesses have access to markets around the world so that they can deliver, compete with the best and have jobs and prosperity that result from this kind of free trade.