Agriculture committee  Perhaps I can add to that. I certainly agree with Kathleen on concluding the agreements we currently have. We've already indicated looking at an agreement with India. It is absolutely critical. You're looking at the second-largest population in the world that has a huge consumptive demand for our pulses, our special crops.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Miller, I could offer some people on the ground in New Delhi. If you're looking for industry contacts, I'm always happy to help out.

Agriculture committee  I don't, other than to say I support Kathleen with regard to the importance of being at the table. I don't know how we can, as you say, have 65% of our exports going to those nations and not be at the table. It is critical.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely—a significant amount of information. On market intelligence, for example, we had our people on the ground in Shanghai and in Beijing. We were able to work with Mr. Gorrell and pass information back.

Agriculture committee  You know, actually, I've used the blackleg issue as an example of how government-industry cooperation should work. I would definitely use that as a shining example of how we need to go forward. I think we were caught a little bit as an industry, because it isn't just government....

Agriculture committee  I think one of the most important things—I'm saying this from a trade aspect as an industry—and one of the greatest benefits for us was, although I don't want to sound trite, one-stop shopping. For industry to deal with government, sometimes we get a little overwhelmed with which department we should go to.

Agriculture committee  No, we don't.

Agriculture committee  Other than when we accompany.... It would be payment in kind when we accompany the minister or Fred Gorrell on what are not so much trade missions, but...for example, we've been over there with the Canola Council. Senator JoAnne Buth has been over there in the past. That would be picked up by the various councils or associations, so I would say that it's payment in kind.

Agriculture committee  We're certainly involved with research and innovation as a company.

Agriculture committee  I would say definitely yes, it's important to focus on the research and innovation. I mentioned earlier that I sit as co-chair with Fred Gorrell on the grains round table. In fact, we have one of the working groups specifically on research. That's dealing more in the aspect of how do we draw in additional research dollars.

Agriculture committee  If I could just add a specific example to your question of do we want to see bilaterals and what's the impact—and the answer is yes—I would turn to the recent free trade agreement Canada signed with Colombia. From an exporter's point of view, what that has given us is immediate, tariff-free access on peas, lentils, and chickpeas.

Agriculture committee  To answer your last question first, are we looking forward to it? The answer is absolutely, yes. To be participants in all commodities across a broad spectrum and into the international marketplace, I think at the end of the day it will result in benefits for producers. I think it is a good thing.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Miller. Kathleen has covered off a number of the items. I'll try to accentuate some of those and give you a perspective from Viterra's vantage point. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to address the standing committee to talk about Canada's development of Growing Forward 2 and about marketing and trade.