My goodness, Madam Speaker, the vigorous debate that we have here today. I am very proud to be a member of Parliament during these times. I suppose we can all just get along for a little while. I hope that my speech is not going to be as contentious as what we have heard over the past little while.
I would like to bring some facts to this debate. I would like to put them out there for a decent round of questions and comments so we can talk about this issue as it goes forward not just for us but also for the wonderful people of Colombia.
I want to start by talking about my personal opinion regarding the free trade arrangements that exist currently throughout the world and what they do not just to liberalize trade but also to increase the standard of living for people involved in the economy and the illegal economy. It allows people in all regions of a nation to better the standard of living of anyone who wants to participate. I will touch on this later in my speech.
I am a rural member of Parliament and I would like many people in the rural areas of Colombia to be engaged in this process as well.
Right now we have an economy that is global, far more global in nature than we ever anticipated. The rapid development of this global economy is intense. It is certainly intense in my riding in the traditional sectors of mining, fishing and even forestry. Many people in the rural areas of the Andean region rely on these industries as well, particularly the mining industry.
We have to analyze the three pillars by which we want to engage Colombians not just in conversation but in an arrangement that would allow them to better the standard of living not just for the select few elite, but for people in the entire region. It is part of that legal economy that we need to increase.
Fifty-six per cent of the people in Colombia engage in illegal economic activities. Through no fault of their own they are engaged in a workforce that is not legitimate for the most part. For people in some of the smaller places in Colombia, it is all that they have. They find themselves in a situation where they are desperate to make a living for their communities and for their loved ones. Those people need options.
We have created some options that they can use to increase their skills which would allow them and their children to stay within the regions they love so much. Colombians love their country. This is important for the Andean region.
We already have comprehensive agreements in place with Chile and Peru. These agreements provide a substantial boost to many people living in the rural and urban communities.
Hopefully, we can wean Colombians away from the practices taking place in other countries that do not believe in the same values, such as Venezuela, as my hon. colleague talked about.
We need to give these people options. It is not that they want to be involved in the activities we hear so much about. The narco-economy in Colombia is well developed. Destruction of that type of economy is not going to happen overnight. It has to be done piecemeal. It has to be done through steady investments, through a sense of corporate responsibility. Canada can share its sense of corporate responsibility with Colombia.
We are not oblivious to all that is happening in Colombia. My hon. colleague from Trinity—Spadina ran off a list of incidents that we would not want to ever see happen in that country. How can we give the people who live there the option to get away from that? We need to engage these people.
I have heard the criticisms made by Amnesty International and others that the Bloc and the NDP have brought out. We need to engage these people. We do not disagree with them, but why take these measures and just throw them out? This is the part that we need to understand.
We are currently working on a comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union. I bring that up only because this deal would be a boon for people in rural communities. It would allow them to improve a currently failing industry. A prime example involves those individuals who make a living from catching and harvesting shrimp.
The European free trade agreement is going to bring about a positive deal for them for the very simple reason that it gives them options. It does not matter if they are in Belgium or Colombia, it is the options that this creates.
Sure this is a benefit for us; we do not disagree. We would never walk away from something that is only a one-sided deal, but there is also something for them.
I want to refer to what has been talked about in this debate for some time and that is the comments by President Barack Obama on this. There has been some confusion as to whether the United States does or does not agree with this. I think the principles laid down by Obama are true. He said, “I commended President Uribe on the progress that has been made in human rights in Colombia and dealing with the killings of labour leaders there, and obviously we have seen a downward trajectory in the deaths of labour unions and we have seen improvements when it comes to prosecution of those who are carrying out these blatant human rights offences”.
I do not think the President of the United States is saying the place is perfect, but he is saying it is a lot better than what it used to be.
This is part of a proactive measure that helps these people get away from the type of living where they are living from hand to mouth every week. It is not just a question of making money. They are dealing with people who are incredibly dangerous. The paramilitary groups, whether or not they are disbanded, in some instances they are regrouping under some major urban crime. That is what we have to avoid. We can do that by engaging them and giving young people options.
I have a teenage son. If my teenage son were growing up in Colombia and there was no engagement with the outside world, think about what would happen. His only option would be to engage in part of that economic activity that is completely and utterly illegal. His life expectancy would be cut in half. However, he knows that living in Canada he does not have to choose that life.
We share a bit of what we are with them. That is striving for perfection. It is the same argument I have over universal health care with people. My American counterparts sometimes say that Canada has a bad system. Well, it is better than theirs. Universality is not perfect, but at least it is worth striving for.
In this case increasing the standard of living for average Colombians, whether they are rural or urban, is certainly worth striving for. I think this agreement does this.
My hon. colleague from Kings—Hants has brought forward an amendment which goes in the direction of achieving a better standard of living, the report brought here in the House for us to vet, to look at and to debate. That is what we need, a proactive measure that actually makes this a better situation not just for those who do business in Colombia but for us.
SNC Lavalin, a successful company in Montreal, is now doing business in Colombia, quite comfortably, I might add. Brookfield Asset Management created a $400 million Colombia infrastructure fund. They would not do this if it was an absolute nightmare to work in Colombia. They are not saying it is perfect; they are just saying it is better than what it used to be. I think they like this deal as well. They certainly agree with the principles of corporate social responsibility.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made these comments:
The report demonstrates how the internal armed conflict continues to pose many challenges for the country, including the complete disregard for international humanitarian law by guerrilla groups [most notably FARC]. This situation is exacerbated by violence against civilians committed by illegal armed groups that emerged after the demobilization of paramilitary organizations, links between illegal armed groups and drug trafficking, and the particularly acute impact of the internal armed conflict on indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian communities.
There is no doubt it is there, but the problem now is that we need to make this better. That is what this agreement does.