Mr. Speaker, I have paid great attention, with interest, to the work of the committee. Even though this bill has not yet arrived at the committee, the committee has already studied this bill twice. They have already studied the subject matter of this bill twice, so that tells me something.
I have looked at what some of the witnesses there have said in appearing at the committee. This is so long ago, last year, that I was not even minister back then. I read this from the Canadian Council of Chief Executives' executive vice-president, David Stewart-Patterson:
In this environment, I think it's vital for Canadian companies to continue to do everything possible to diversify their export markets. Passing Bill C-23 would reinforce these efforts. Conversely, further delays in passage of this bill would undermine the goal of improving Canada's global trade performance and slow our return to strong economic growth.
Further, he said:
Colombia's tariffs on Canadian goods currently range from 15% to 108%, which obviously represents a huge disadvantage right now for Canadian exporters. Passage of Bill C-23 would erase that disadvantage and help Canadian workers, farmers, and businesses stay ahead of our global competitors.
That is what we are trying to do here. We are trying to create jobs and opportunity for Canadians, success for Canadian businesses and farmers. We are working hard to make it happen and those parties are doing everything they can to delay and obstruct the success of our work.