International Trade committee  The organization I currently work with...?

International Trade committee  If you're asking my personal opinion.... Again, it was certainly not something we looked at. We looked at the democratic process in Colombia.

International Trade committee  The violence created by the drug trafficking, absolutely--

International Trade committee  There are a number of reasons, but I think there are certainly organizations better able to speak to that.

International Trade committee  I don't think--

International Trade committee  I think that's one widely accepted reason for people getting into drug trafficking, certainly.

International Trade committee  I said it's one of the accepted, absolutely. It's not the only one.

International Trade committee  Again, this isn't a field that I've studied. I think it's very complicated, as you said. I don't think somebody wakes up one day and says, “Oh, I can't wait to get involved in the drug trade.” I think people have very complicated life situations that cover a myriad of problems.

International Trade committee  I think that providing rules-based trade is certainly not going to end the drug trade in Colombia. We've seen that with Plan Colombia in the United States. That has not worked in any way to positively impact the drug trade.

International Trade committee  It's outside of the discussion, other than if you're asserting that the free trade agreement should exist because it will end the drug trade in Colombia.

International Trade committee  And it certainly hasn't in Mexico, after many years of NAFTA. We have seen an increase, a dramatic increase, of violence in the drug trade in northern Mexico.

International Trade committee  You're speaking about the Council of Canadians, just to be clear.

International Trade committee  Again, the bulk of this testimony doesn't come from my position at the Council of Canadians. It is as a participant on this delegation. Therefore, I'm not speaking to our position as the Council of Canadians on free trade.

International Trade committee  No, I don't believe I did. When I was referring to the free trade agreement, I was referring to the fact that if Canada wants to enter into a free trade agreement, then this committee should be considering the democratic process in Colombia: the process, the mechanisms, and what the institution of democracy in Colombia itself--

International Trade committee  What I presented in my report to the committee is based on the findings from our pre-electoral report. What I put forward were findings of problems we found in the electoral process. What you'll find in the report, if you read it, is it doesn't make a judgment on the free trade agreement or not, or whether or not the will of the people in Colombia is being respected.