Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no doubt this is a day of shame and infamy for this Parliament of Canada.
At this time, given the human rights violations in Colombia, there is no doubt that after simply having two hours of debate at report stage, it is shocking that the government brings in the bulldozer of closure. It is a day of infamy for all those Canadians, those thousands of Canadians, who have been writing in to say that the government is wrong, and the Liberals are wrong for propping up a government that has such a shameful human rights record.
Now we know, but I am going to ask this question. Why are the Conservatives bringing in closure now? We know that just the other day we had the release of report from the government that confirms that the number of trade unionists killed in Colombia is rising, and that the targeted killings of African-Colombians, aboriginal people in Colombia, and lesbian and gay community leaders are increasing in Colombia.
We have seen the involvement of president Uribe's brother in the brutal killings by paramilitaries. We have seen the Colombian army attacking striking British Petroleum workers in Colombia. We have seen the paramilitaries attacking unionists in Segovia.
We have seen 30 trade unionists lose their lives so far this year and we have seen the ignominious title of worst country in the world for trade unionists bestowed on Colombia. Fifty percent of all killings of trade unionists occur in Colombia. It tops the list worldwide.
Is that not the real reason why closure is being invoked today, that with all of these incredible revelations coming forward in the last few days the Liberals and Conservatives are simply embarrassed to have a real debate on this floor, a real democratic debate that allows members of Parliament more than two hours to debate this agreement, and talk about the issues facing Colombians and the appalling human rights violations? Is that not the real reason why they are bringing in the bulldozer today?