International Trade committee  That is part of our value proposition to our clients. We do that. We have expertise on the ground in the various countries we are in. We know the industries, sectors, and players; we can and do open doors; and we bank them in the way they need to banked.

International Trade committee  By far.

International Trade committee  Every firm would say this, but in the service industry the labour force drives your ability to make money. We have a labour force that represents the diversity of our client base and of the countries we operate in. We view that as a key strength in our ability to provide value to our clients.

International Trade committee  The bottom line for us is that this is a deal that expands economic opportunity for Canadian firms, and if Canadian firms are doing better, which is what we think would happen, it means we will have more activity with them. That would be positive for us.

International Trade committee  When we operate in whatever country we operate in, we respect the rules and regulations in place in that country and in Canada. That goes without saying. The main advantage for the TPP from a financial services perspective is that it places our banks and our competitors in Canada on a level playing field with the domestic institutions.

International Trade committee  I'm afraid I can't answer that with any degree of authority. If you walk around Scotia Plaza in Toronto—I've only been there for four months—the striking thing about working there is the amount of non-English that you hear in the elevators. We are truly a global institution in the sense that we cycle people in and out of our regions on a regular basis.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Jean-François Perrault, chief economist and senior vice-president at Scotiabank. Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As Canada's international bank, we have operations in 9 of the 12 TPP countries and operations in 46 other countries.