Mr. Speaker, I do not know where to begin. I have heard some rants and some misinformation in the House before, but I do not think I have heard anything that is ever going to beat that. For the absolute unmitigated gall of the hon. member to say that was a pro-trade speech is absolutely mind-boggling.
First of all, let us deal with a couple of issues. The hon. member wants to talk about a leaked memorandum. A leaked memorandum is exactly what it is. That is something that is deliberately leaked by an another party to try to force something else to happen in negotiations. That is what leaked memoranda do, and the hon. member played into that very nicely. He picked it up and did a great job for the European Union.
That the European committee is better briefed than our committee is absolute nonsense. We have met a couple of times with the European trade committee. The first thing we learned is that we were much better briefed than they were in these negotiations. The words “updated and consulted broadly” are absolute nonsense.
Here is the deal. Canada is a trading nation. We are looking at CETA, the comprehensive economic trade agreement to increase trade with the European Union by about $12 billion and about 80,000 jobs, the equivalent of about $1,000 per household in Canada. This is a good agreement for Canada. Our future is tied to trade.
The hon. member actually asked for this late show. It is kind of like a light show, I guess. It is coming up to Christmas, and all of us have the Christmas spirit and a certain belief in make-believe, and the hon. member brings that out well. However, we have to talk about facts when we stand in the House.
The fact is very simple. We have negotiated this in the best interests of Canadians. We continue to brief the provinces on a regular basis. We brief the municipalities. It is the first time ever that they have had briefings from a federal minister for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
The reality is that this series of negotiations are to benefit Canada. We will bring this to a conclusion at some point, whether it is this year or early in 2013, and at the end of the day, Canadians will be better off because of it.
As far as public procurement, the offer on public procurement is ambitious. The provinces have signed on to it. The provinces and municipalities have to sign on for public procurement. The hon. member knows that.
With regard to the idea that somehow we are going to cost Canadians more money on pharmaceuticals, this is still being negotiated. The hon. member needs to calm down, wait until the negotiations are over, and then he can stand in the House and speak with some surety. Until then, we will continue briefing the provinces and the municipalities, but we will negotiate the way that every agreement is negotiated. When the final agreement is ready, we will bring it forward.