Finance committee  I don't have a specific figure for what it will mean in terms of inflows into Canada, but I would speculate that this will be beneficial just because it's another piece of the bilateral relationship, which is now improving after FIPA, RMB and, potentially, through further steps.

Finance committee  We have 150 members, $6 trillion.

Finance committee  There are 1.5 million.

Finance committee  Absolutely.

Finance committee  Absolutely. The government's trade agenda, in particular, has been highly successful. The CETA, you know, is the most important trade agreement we've seen since NAFTA, and will have huge benefits for the Canadian economy. Then the recently concluded agreement with Korea will also

Finance committee  It's very important. Canada needs to maintain its international attractiveness to not only attract investment but to make itself known on the international stage as key people to trade with and to incorporate into a supply chain.

Finance committee  I'd be happy to start.

Finance committee  Just to respond, you pointed out that manufacturing has declined in the Canadian economy.

Finance committee  Yes, it's been significant, but what's been a really positive story has been the rise of the services economy. It makes up a huge portion of our economy. We've seen a 50% increase in services trade with China, from 2007 to 2012, and Canadian companies actually establishing foreig

Finance committee  Yes, there's no doubt that the relationship has had ups and downs, but overall I'd say it's been on a positive trajectory. As I mentioned, we've had the FIPA, which is an absolutely great signal, and then we've had the complementarity study. I think we are on the right track with

Finance committee  I'll go back to the example of Australia, which set up such a partnership with China that includes an annual meeting at the PM level and then cabinet engagement. As you know, it eventually led to, or has been a factor in, Australia concluding a free trade agreement with China.

Finance committee  What's missing in going ahead with the free trade agreement?

Finance committee  Well, I think the first step would be that we've already done a complementarity study, which scoped out how that would work. The next step would be that we would have some sort of a strategic dialogue, as I've said, so that would be engagement at the highest level between our two

Finance committee  As I said earlier, large companies are ready for this. They're ready for the RMB hub and they're already very active in China. But to make sure that we really do take advantage of it, and that SMEs are aware of it and taking advantage of it, I do think that there is a role for go

Finance committee  I'll answer very quickly. First, the global markets action plan was a good step forward in trying to make a strategy for Canada on launching trade missions and engaging with important partners, but as I've said, a strategic partnership would be a great next step. Australia, for e