Madam Speaker, as members on that side of the House know, I will go to no lengths to make the NDP happy on trade deals.
Progressive trade deals are meant to reinforce social values that we share, such as protecting the environment, advancing labour standards, and advancing standards of transparency, and enshrining the right to regulate.
Trade deals are not all the same. They have different political and social goals that can be attained in any given situation, depending on whether they are multilateral or bilateral. Hence, every trade deal is different. Accordingly, we on this side of the House feel that CETA and CUFTA are progressive trade deals for a variety of different reasons. We believe they advance these various goals in different ways, to different degrees, but always within the realm of the possible.