Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asks a perfectly sensible question because we are coming up to the G8. He and I met with the sous-sherpa of Prime Minister Cameron. They are keen to have this kind of legislation. This is the kind of legislation the world needs, the world wants. When the Americans get behind something, that is when we want to be there. We have one foreign policy that frankly is “do not get too far ahead of the Americans and do not get too far behind them”. When they get behind this kind of legislation, they set the world standards and we need to be on that train. This is extremely important for our international reputation.
The final point I would make is these are our main trading partners. Why gratuitously irritate the United States by not accepting legislation such as this, which is largely a mirror image of their own legislation? Why gratuitously irritate the EU while we are negotiating a trade agreement with it when this is something that industry wants, the international community wants and I know Canadians want?