Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Laurentides—Labelle for his very enlightening speech about the possible negative effects of these agreements.
One very important aspect to consider involves Panama's labour laws. President Ricardo Martinelli announced unilateral changes to labour law in the summer of 2010. These changes prohibited the collection of mandatory union dues, allowed employers to dismiss workers who were on strike and replace them with strikebreakers, allowed roadblocks and criminal acts, and even sheltered the police from legal action. This labour relations regime is completely unbalanced and harms workers.
I would like to my colleague to comment on that.