Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for her speech on the importance of market access for SMEs. There are several SMEs in Mégantic—L'Érable that, just like those in my colleague's riding, would like access to more markets in order to grow. Mine was once a mining region, primarily because of Thetford Mines. We exported to countries around the world, but we only had one product. Now our regions have many SMEs.
Canadian SMEs and large corporations must have the opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of the CPTPP and access to this new market. For that to happen, Canada must be among the first six countries to sign the agreement or it will only get the crumbs left by the first six signatory countries.
Unfortunately, in June, when we asked for a special summer sitting of the House of Commons, the government refused to expedite the ratification of the CPTPP. I do not understand why and I asked several questions about this today. I have a simple question for my colleague: why?