Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.
The answer is no, as the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean admitted. The Conservatives discussed it among themselves. However, they never communicated with our American friends before October 12 of last year.
Our government took over. We had many rounds of negotiations: there were 16 rounds in one year. That is quite something for negotiating teams. There have been several meetings between the minister and her counterpart, two meetings between the President and the Prime Minister, and many phone calls to people throughout North America.
We took over enthusiastically. It is a difficult process that has many challenges. However, we are working very hard and we will continue to work very hard to protect Canadians' interests.