International Trade committee  I'm trying to remember which report that was. That's a long list of domestic factors that we need to address. We need to try to find ways. We are not as innovative as we should be. We don't invest as much as we should in machinery and equipment. Let's address, among the many fac

International Trade committee  —go out there, take some risks, and find the financing to do it. That can sometimes be an issue, and that's addressed in the document as well.

International Trade committee  Sure. I think trade and development are definitely hot topics, especially in developing countries. I think—and this speaks to an earlier question—policies we put in place regarding corporate social responsibility, corruption, and setting high standards for our companies might, at

International Trade committee  That goes to the culture question. One of the reasons I mentioned the accelerator centres—not quite incubators—is that they literally match successful companies, sometimes established companies that have an interest in the growing overall business environment, with the smaller co

International Trade committee  I don't have a lot to add. I think we are living in a pretty nice country with a big market next door. I think that just overwhelms the thinking sometimes when you start a business. We still have interprovincial trade barriers, and all that kind of stuff, to overcome. I agree wit

International Trade committee  Some large countries that have a lot of economic potential are not there. I don't really feel like questioning the reasons why they're not there. It's probably not necessarily for economic reasons. I can think of Venezuela. I can think of Argentina. I can think of the Caribbean c

International Trade committee  —that we can think of eventually down the road. The Philippines is not there either, so there are some significant markets—

International Trade committee  I certainly didn't say or mean to imply that Russia should come off the list. I was just saying that it's not because you're on the list that all of a sudden it's going to be a great market for the next two years, and it's not because you're off the list. Actually, the people in

International Trade committee  No, I didn't say that, not under the current circumstances. What I'm saying is that, as we've seen in Russia and other places, political circumstances change. We need to be ready to change with those circumstances. That really was my point.

International Trade committee  Yes, and that allows me to give a more specific answer, I think, to Mr. Davies' question. I think it's pretty clear. There was an assessment of the previous global trade strategy or global commerce strategy, which went in that direction, that the trade commissioner service is ve

International Trade committee  I think the Team Canada approach, on a case-by-case basis, might work in certain markets where those kinds of representations are very important, where the kind of big-team approach is important. But what the study says is that really when you look at the two approaches overall,

International Trade committee  I think we're big enough to focus on both. Some of the statistics—and I live in Kitchener-Waterloo and so we're well aware of that speech—reflect the fact that the U.S. went through a very deep recession, for example. It's now coming back up I think, in a nice way. The recent for

International Trade committee  That's a very good question. I think part of the answer is within the plan, and it is a greater focus on economic diplomacy on the needs of SMEs. When you meet diplomats abroad, the fact is that they are now more than ever—I think they've always done this—helping to build connect

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Chair. Maybe we should have reversed the order, because I'm going to talk about the current global markets action plan and not the future one, which John was contemplating. Thank you very much. I really appreciate the opportunity to appear before the commit

International Trade committee  I said there just happened to be a lot of questions about supply management. Just to be clear, in the fuller paper, of course I'm saying that Canada should get something in terms of market access, whether it's for fish, beef, or other products, in exchange for anything we might