Mr. Speaker, today, at the international trade committee, we heard from an anti-trade special interest group that wilfully ignored the jobs and prosperity that are created through deeper trade. It is shameful that the NDP lauded this group instead of standing up for Canadian workers and their jobs. However, that is not surprising. Just last week, NDP MPs took an anti-trade junket to Washington to lobby against tens of thousands of Canadian jobs. This week, they are lauding anti-trade special interest groups at the trade committee during our study of the EU free trade negotiations.
The NDP and its special interest groups ignore the benefits to Canadian workers and businesses from a free trade agreement with the European Union: a 20% boost in bilateral trade, a $12 billion annual boost to Canada's economy, a $1,000 increase in the average family's income, and almost 80,000 new jobs created.
With one in five Canadian jobs generated by trade, it is no wonder Canadians gave us a strong, stable, majority government.