Mr. Speaker, a Conservative trade policy that raises drug costs to Canadians from $2 billion to $3 billion a year is not the kind of trade policy that Canadians want. I notice that my hon. friend did not say a single word to refute that.
The government refers to its record on trade with an air of pride. Well, it should not. It talks about the deals that it has signed as if it were crossing off a shopping list. However, let us look at those deals. Generally these deals have been with small economies, and in many cases with partners with whom we should not be dealing, countries like Honduras and Colombia, with disturbing track records on human rights and environmental protection.
What about the Conservatives' record? Here are the real numbers. Under the Conservative government we have gone from a trade surplus of $26 billion in 2006 to a trade deficit of $50 billion to date. Our manufacturing trade deficit has exploded sixfold to $90 billion today and our exports of raw or barely processed resources are going up while manufactured items are going down.
We would like to see a deal with the EU, which is a good partner and a large economy. However, Canadians could be skeptical about whether or not this would be of benefit to them, when they see their drug costs go up by billions of dollars a year. What does my hon. friend say to Canadians about drug costs and CETA?