Hon. Percy E. Downe: I have a question for Senator Harder.

During the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee's study on the CETA agreement, we were advised there was some urgency to it. The committee did their work very well, but we had a sense of that urgency. We were advised that if a deal was approved by the Senate and received Royal Assent, it would be likely within four weeks before it was approved and came into force. Do you have an update on that situation with the Europeans?

Hon. Peter Harder (Government Representative in the Senate): I thank the honourable senator for his question. I will seek an update. I don't have the latest information, and I will want to ensure I have that when I report to him.

Senator Downe: As a supplementary question, could you also inquire whether, when the Prime Minister was in Europe, any of the European leaders mentioned to him their concerns about the secrecy and lack of transparency vis-à-vis the Government of Canada's regulation that they don't intend to share them before they are published in the Canada Gazette, and that's a concern of the Europeans? Could you make that inquiry as well?

Senator Harder: I will indeed.