Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I have another statistic that I'll provide to Mr. Easter, as well, because we like to blow our own horn here. Our chief economist has actually shown that for every dollar spent on the trade commissioner service, it leads to $2.8 of additional federal government revenue. In the context of reducing deficits, I'd like everyone to take note of that one. That's a good one.
In response to Mr. Easter's question, the whole issue of market access is ongoing. We see it around the world. We actually have a pretty good record in dealing with it. The challenge, of course, is that invariably the problem is not created by Canadians. Generally the people who deal with market access issues are locally engaged trade commissioners who know the ins and outs of a sector.
And you're quite right, it almost has to work like a SWAT operation. You get the call, and we've had instances of potatoes.... We've also had instances of live lobsters in a container on a pier in the heat, perishable products like that. You have to be able to deal with something. You need somebody who can navigate that system, as you quite rightly point out, and not have to go back to Ottawa. Our colleagues don't. They know who they have to go to. But it's often these kinds of non-tariff situations where you have a phytosanitary thing and they try to hold it up.
We can always do better, Mr. Easter, and we're seized of that; it's what we try to do all the time. It is a defeat for us if somebody's export opportunity of a perishable agricultural product is lost because of something that transpired once the product arrived where it was supposed to be and the guy who wants it isn't able to take possession of it for some reason. That's always a challenge for us.