Madam Speaker, being a member of the agriculture committee, I have seen the member constantly strive to fight for agriculture in Canada, particularly the agriculture in his area. He has always been a strong proponent.
He is absolutely right. We need to continue to try to move forward on free trade agreements, bilateral free trade agreements. The European Union is tremendously important. Once again, I will go back to pork. This is an industry that has been devastated over the last several years. Romania's being included in the European Union has taken away another niche market for our pork industry that is tremendously important to value-adding for our Canadian farmers.
It is the same as Colombia. Not only would this free trade agreement with Colombia give us a niche market that is important to our farmers but it would also raise human rights standards for Colombian farmers. It would also allow them to interact on a more global basis with us in an exchange of ideas and information that would better their farming techniques.
It is important that we do not become an isolationist country when it comes to free trade and that we continue to expand that around the world.