Mr. Speaker, negotiations towards a comprehensive economic and trade agreement between Canada and the European Union are the most open, collaborative and transparent negotiations this country has ever seen. Two weeks ago, the Minister of International Trade even appeared before the committee, at his own request, to give an update on the negotiations.
Today's demonstrations once again reveal the sad reality: these special interest groups are simply opposed to free trade. The benefits of a Canada-European Union free trade agreement are considerable: a 20% increase in bilateral trade and a $12 billion annual boost to Canada's economy, not to mention the 80,000 new jobs that would be created in Canada.
By supporting these special interest groups, the NDP is going against the interests of workers and doing precisely what it has unfortunately always done in the past: opposing free trade. As history has shown, protectionist measures only impede growth and kill jobs.