Mr. Speaker, my friend and I have become very close friends over the years. He is someone who really cares about Canada's economic health and he has intervened on many occasions to express how important it is for Canada to grow its economy through using trade and investment.
In trade agreements, we focus on eliminating two things, one being tariff barriers. In other words, the duties that are imposed when Canadians want to export agricultural products abroad, whether it is wheat, pulses, fruits, pork or cattle. When we are exporting these products abroad there are usually very heavy tariffs on them because other countries are trying to protect their economy. What they do not understand is that free and open trade actually builds a much bigger overall pie.
When we negotiate these agreements, we are negotiating market access, the elimination of these tariffs, and beyond that we are also negotiating the elimination of non-tariff barriers which are all the rules and standards that are behind the border that prevent Canadian farmers from being successful when they export their products abroad.