International Trade committee  Yes, sir.

International Trade committee  Yes, sir, and it's also to protect our position vis-à-vis the Americans, our competitors. We do enough for the Americans; we don't need to hand them the Colombian market too.

International Trade committee  I think there are two factors here. One, again, is the debate in the United States, where it's not about whether or not the United States should have a free trade agreement with Colombia, but as Mr. Julian correctly pointed out, about the fact there is a great deal of hostility t

International Trade committee  Okay.

International Trade committee  That's a very direct question built upon several very interesting building blocks. If we go back and take a look at a couple of these, I think we may wind up with an answer to that question along the way. Let's just take a look at some of the things that you've raised here. In t

International Trade committee  The comments were in the context of Mr. Brison's question about the larger debate about free trade and the Colombian agreement. I was referring to discussions in the United States. The author's obvious point of reference, the point from which you would start, would be the larger

International Trade committee  For which year?

International Trade committee  No, not for 2008. For 2007, that is the last one we got. We--

International Trade committee  No, I haven't seen that one, but I have talked to Canadian companies that have been investing and to our ambassador in Colombia who has spoken on the issue several times.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. We have not done such a study or carried out a study. The interesting thing about Colombia is that there are groups in Colombia that are independent, strong organizations and have the capacity to do this work. Colombia is still developing, but the f

International Trade committee  That is correct.

International Trade committee  That is the case for all similar organizations in Canada.

International Trade committee  That's an interesting question. With some polling data you could take an analysis of the media. You would have to run two things like that to try to come up with an objective answer, so in objective terms I would be hard pressed to say. Like everyone else, I have an opinion and s

International Trade committee  Everything that can be done in that regard will be of assistance, but it will not turn the tide. Poverty and inequality are major issues throughout the hemisphere. I would never say that one trade agreement is going to turn this around, but certainly it's an incremental step, and

International Trade committee  Well, if you want to base it in a western perspective, you could go back to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche: you feel better about yourself if you're giving. This is your largesse, and it's about helping people, but it's also about making you feel better. Trade doesn't give you the