Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that, when the Conservative government thinks of trade, surplus versus deficit, it figures the best way to deal with it is to come up with trade agreements.
The NDP members have the sense that trade agreements are a bad thing. Even though the member made reference to trade agreements, if the truth be known, NDP members have never stood in their places and voted in favour of a trade agreement.
The Conservatives need to recognize that trade agreements are good, but they also need to do a little extra beyond just signing an agreement. The example I used earlier was China. The current Prime Minister goes to China and brings back a couple of panda bears.
When former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien went to China, he brought a trade mission with him and literally brought back hundreds of millions of dollars. Trade agreements and active trade missions provide thousands of jobs and opportunities for Canadians and businesses.
Would the member not agree that trade missions are critically important—