Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by addressing the gender point. I salute all the women in the House. It is important to have more women here. It is always a pleasure for me to meet them and see the very strong female presence, particularly on this side of the House, and the solidarity among us. It is great that they are here. It is great to see some women on the other side of the aisle as well.
To the point of democracy and human rights in Honduras, as I said in my remarks, this is tricky. It is a difficult issue, and it is a tough continuum. Of course I would prefer a world in which everyone enjoys the democracy and human rights Canada does. All of us in the House are united in the belief that part of our duty as Canadian parliamentarians is to work toward improving those conditions not only for Canadians but for everyone in the world.
It is, however, my belief that trade can be a way to help countries move on that authoritarianism-to-democracy continuum. Cutting countries off from the world economy should be a last resort, not the first thing we do.