International Trade committee  NAFTA is only three countries, and the FTA was only two countries. What I'm saying is, why would you, as a decision maker, put yourself in a position in which you're going to be dealing with people knowing that they're going to have another set of rules, different from ours?

International Trade committee  Why would you compete with them, knowing that—?

International Trade committee  But why would you go one step further?

International Trade committee  Before I do that, I just want to read something else into the record, too, from our policy and solutions forum that we had yesterday. I just want to read this, as I didn't get a chance to read it earlier: The gathering heard that Canada is not only losing new auto investment to Mexico and American jurisdictions offering better incentives but also to a growing number of new countries around the world entering the lucrative industrial sector, including Indonesia, Turkey and Thailand.

International Trade committee  I can speak from memory because I wrote it, or helped write it. The resolution from the Ontario Chambers is basically on the content issue. The fact of the 62.5% going down to 30% to 35%—or to 40%, depending on how you read it—is something we need to equalize. We need to equalize the tariffs.

International Trade committee  You can go back to Galbraith or Ricardo or Adam Smith, or a number of our friends in history and talk about this. With a trade agreement, if I have bananas and you have apples and we trade something like two apples for two bananas, that's what you call trade. But if one industry is getting either heavily subsidized or has favours, and you and I both have apples, but you have state subsidies to grow your trees, you have state subsidies on your roads, you have state subsidies on other things, then we have to look at that and ask if that is an accurate agreement.

International Trade committee  Sure. What can the government do? In once sense, I think we should look at past things and put TPP aside in the interest of time. I would suggest that the government look at doing what we can do right now without international trade agreements. One is to pass PACA, something that Perrin Beatty has requested at the agriculture committee—and I see Gerry Ritz and Dave Van Kesteren sitting here—and to pass sports betting, which would help our region as well.

International Trade committee  I want to thank the committee, and I particularly Tracey Ramsey and Cheryl Hardcastle, for inviting me here today. It's good to see Dave here as well and former Minister Gerry Ritz. My name is Matt Marchand. I am the president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce representing over 800 employers and 30,000 employee members with billions in sales.