Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, Your Excellency. Thank you very much for joining us, as well as to you, Mr. Mecklenburg. We appreciate your appearing today and answering questions, as we are excited about the possibilities that this agreement in principle holds for Canada and the EU.
Interestingly enough, Your Excellency, I notice you come to us after 10 years in Mexico and the U.S., and now to Canada, so it's the NAFTA trifecta.
I'm going to speak to that for a minute because Canada is in the unique position, with CETA, to have access to 800 million-plus of the world's best consumers through NAFTA and through what will be an excellent deal with the European Union.
The U.S., our friend and most important trading partner, is not in that position yet, but discussions are under way. How long do you anticipate those would take? Right now Canada is in a very unique spot in the world, I would say.