International Trade committee  Well, yes, in terms of their stock price. But you know what I mean: it's in terms of being a major technology leader. A lot of the bigger firms—which would capture those 2,000—don't really need our help. We'll see them when they have a problem; they'll come in and help us. But it's a constant process on our part to move the interests of firms forward, because we keep growing.

International Trade committee  Indeed. But a micro firm could involve a couple of researchers who are working in the MaRS cluster in Toronto and who have come up with a new cancer patent and want to commercialize it.

International Trade committee  The issue of human rights figures in all elements of our relationship with China, and it is raised by all senior officials when they visit China. It's raised in a respectful way, but it is always present and we talk about it. As the chief trade commissioner, one of the things that strikes me about Canada and Canadian business people is that our business people are effectively ambassadors who have embedded values in them.

International Trade committee  We don't have a measurement system per se on the political side of our operations. It's a little bit more difficult to measure how successful you are. It's something, though, that figures in all the dialogues that we have.

International Trade committee  The Prime Minister and the government are on record as saying that the TPP is significant and that we're interested in it. With the Doha Round stalled, you can see quite clearly that countries, particularly in Asia, are looking either to bilateral arrangements or regional arrangements.

International Trade committee  Mr. Chair, in response to that question, unfortunately, I'm not a trade negotiator. I'm a trade promoter. I think you'd have to ask our negotiators about a detailed policy question like that. I know the approach to all our negotiations is that we put everything on the table and pursue our country's best interests.

International Trade committee  We begin with our regional offices. In many instances, the regional offices act as client generators. We use a number of mechanisms, such as the imbedded trade commissioners that Peter mentioned we have in various sector associations. A big element of the work that our people do is outside of their offices; it isn't all just focused on Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver.

International Trade committee  As much as anything, what the recession has done for the firms that are exporters is to cause them to have a diversified vision of the world. The United States will always remain our most important market, but trade is not a zero-sum game. So you can look at the States, but where else are there opportunities?

International Trade committee  Yes, we do. An element of each of these trade negotiations, as they unfold, is the consultations with stakeholders. We also have a SME advisory board, where the minister meets with a group of SMEs drawn from across Canada. An element of the work we do with them is to ensure that they and the associations they're part of, or the provinces they come from, are aware of the full range of trade liberalizing initiatives we're pursuing.

International Trade committee  No, we don’t. We sometimes give them advice, but providing them with support is not part of our mandate.

International Trade committee  Actually, our core mandate is to facilitate SMEs’ work. We understand that efficiency is very difficult to achieve when the person running the company and the CEO, who are responsible for the company's financing, are also responsible for its marketing. We work closely with SMEs to ensure that, when a company attempts to penetrate a market, its efforts are not wasted.

International Trade committee  If I may, I'd like to add to what the other Peter was saying. One of the real challenges you face with SMEs is that the person you're dealing with is generally not only the CEO, but also the CFO and the chief marketer. We try to ensure that they're focused. If they want to go to China, we will assist them so they're not going to arrive and just flounder around.

International Trade committee  I will address the issue of trade missions. Our new minister, Mr. Fast, has informed us that he wants to travel with business people. I think that's a recognition that the trade mission format is a successful one in certain markets. It's certainly something I can speak to with a fair amount of knowledge.

International Trade committee  Mr. Keddy, it's a very important point. I know it's one that the minister responsible for immigration is addressing. There are working groups right now, which we participate in, where we're trying to identify these kinds of systemic problems. What's interesting is that they've become very complicated recently, in part because you now have non-traditional investors.

International Trade committee  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.