Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the member. I do not necessarily agree with his comments.
At the end of the day, there are industries in the province of Manitoba, as in other provinces, that see merit in having a free trade agreement with Panama. I can talk about the potato industry, as I have. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs within the province of Manitoba. We could talk about the pork industry, which has great potential in the province of Manitoba and again creates many jobs.
Freer trade with other countries around the world has generated the wealth Canada has today. I suspect that if the member went through every free trade agreement ever passed through the House of Commons, he would find room for improvement. There is no doubt that this particular agreement is the same. Yes, it could be better. Is the member suggesting that if we do not have a perfect agreement, the agreement should never pass? When I say “perfect”, I am referring to things such as environmental laws, human rights issues, labour laws, and so forth. Is that what it takes for the NDP to pass or support an actual free trade agreement?