Transport committee  Right, and those costs would be borne by the carriers and ultimately passed on through the supply chain.

Transport committee  As an association we've estimated that the carriers within our group employ about 150,000 people. There are about 260,000 to 270,000 commercial truck drivers in Canada, and the industry as a whole employs about 400,000 people.

Transport committee  If I could just add on to that, again, you asked the question about domestic clearances for truck drivers. For a driver who's going to be hauling goods domestically in Canada, I wouldn't suggest they subject themselves to the free and secure trade program security check, for the reasons that Mr.

Transport committee  We don't have any particular problem with that. I certainly read what's in the bill, and it seems to me that those would only be issued in what appears to me to be very urgent and sensitive situations, and there would be a review process. So that's not an overriding concern that we have with this particular bill.

Industry committee  Thank you. I'll speak for a minute about cost. That is a really big concern for us. We have all these new programs that have been rolled out—supply chain, security programs, and advanced manifest programs to submit information electronically to customs authorities, and so forth.

International Trade committee  Certainly. In terms of the process itself, this eManifest process in the U.S. has been under way for quite some time. A government industry advisory group called the Trade Support Network was struck in the United States. Representatives from all modes of transportation, as well as brokers and shippers and so forth, were part of that process.

International Trade committee  You're absolutely right. The trucking industry isn't different from a lot of other Canadian industries in that it is primarily made up of small businesses. There are over 10,000 carriers in this country. There's a handful of large ones and a lot of very small ones. It's fundamentally important that those guys be able to cross the border without delay.

International Trade committee  Yes, sure. I can explain to you a little bit about our involvement. Again, when the SPP was being rolled out, there were discussions between us and various different departments of government; it wasn't just one. We weren't just dealing with customs; we were dealing with transportation, we were dealing with immigration, because they were looking at various different initiatives and they wanted our perspective on it because they knew it affected us.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. First of all, David offers his regrets. He's been ill for the last couple of weeks. He had planned to be here until as late as last night, but, unfortunately, he just couldn't make it. He's asked me to read the following statement on his behalf. Let me begin by thanking the committee for the opportunity to appear this morning.