Finance committee  That was what Mr. Fast said when asked. He said we're preoccupied; we have other priorities.

Finance committee  He's great.

Finance committee  On this transaction, the RMB standard or not, my point is that we need to have a broader architecture of engagement, and in the complementarity study, both sides, Canada and China, identified sectors in which they would both benefit from by lowering tariffs, and I'm saying we sho

Finance committee  I think that they would.... This is more on transactions than on investment, but I'll look at it.

Finance committee  I'm not a monetary economist but the global trends are clear. The RMB has been a more used currency in the past number of years. I don't have the precise percentage now of international commerce in RMB, but it has to be 23% or so.

Finance committee  Yes, and with liberalization of the RMB, which will come, it will become a reserve currency. It already is being held by a number, and there will be a normalization over a long period of time. What we are talking about in the RMB conversion settlement issue is not really about

Finance committee  Vancouver is closer than Sydney.

Finance committee  I mean the Government of Canada. China has offered, and the Government of Canada has said they're too busy. I think Canada should take the opportunity to engage. It won't be a quick negotiation. This will take some time, but the first step is the first step.

Finance committee  Let me very briefly remind everybody that China has been in the WTO now for over 10 years. It has been an active member and has taken a number of issues to the WTO for adjudication, and others have taken China there. In each case, China has upheld whatever the decision has been i

Finance committee  Sure. I'll give you a classic opportunity that is before us. Australia has just concluded a free trade agreement with China. We don't have the particulars yet because the agreement has not yet been made public. We have pieces of it. But Australian barley farmers, for example, wi

Finance committee  Yes. Mr. Zhu is a member of our organization. He took part in the discussions in our organization and I agree with him entirely.

Finance committee  Yes, and I'd like to give a few examples. Investissement Québec organized many seminars for businesses. Montreal International did so as well. Economic groups followed suit in various cities. It is important that the organizations that are very close to SMEs have the necessary

Finance committee  If the quotas are used this means that the businesses want to invest and benefit from this opportunity. Perhaps the quotas can be increased when they have been used up.

Finance committee  The Chinese government invited Canada to take part in this initiative. I think that businesses are going to use this tool. William Zhu and his bank have benefited from this initiative. It is true that we are not a great power, but we have quite a good record in our economic rela

Finance committee  We have about 250 organizations.