Industry committee  That's a good point. One of the things that I hope I've contributed today is to at least have given you some tough questions that you should place to the manufacturers, saying sure they're hurting, we know that, but there are a lot more reasons than the exchange rate for a lot

Industry committee  Yes, anything reported in the budget is the fiscal costs. The capital cost allowance extension we're talking about, and this tax credit you're mentioning, would particularly be the ones from which you'd expect productivity benefits, and the government would get some of its money

Industry committee  Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to serve you, and any other time--let me know. I wish you all the best in going forward. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

Industry committee  No, we shouldn't be ashamed. It's nothing.... In fact, I think a lot of the opposite happens. I think most Canadians sort of have a new-found pride in the strength of the Canadian dollar. You could ask if we should be proud of it, as more people are. I mean, it's fine. You can go

Industry committee  This actually received a lot of attention about three years ago, and probably at other times in history. Frankly, I would say it probably isn't a good time, because it's clear there's no appetite for it politically in Canada or the U.S. So if you're asking me, am I going to dev

Industry committee  What were we projecting three years ago for the Canadian dollar?

Industry committee  I'm only guessing, and I haven't looked, but clearly we were not forecasting par. Neither was anybody else. As I say, it's very difficult to forecast the dollar because, among other things, it depends very heavily on the price of energy and oil. And if you can't get that right,

Industry committee  Yes, I appreciate that.

Industry committee  As I say, it's a problematic thing, and really tough questions have to be asked. If the shareholders of that company aren't willing to finance the upgrades, why should the taxpayers of Canada do it? I also make the point that if that particular plant has been online and operating

Industry committee  Yes, generally I'm not in favour of giving firm- or industry-specific.... What we've done in oil is probably not appropriate; that could be.

Industry committee  Okay. On the first one, yes, there are interprovincial barriers, I think it was mentioned, to certain occupations and trades. I know the government is working, I think with some success, in reducing those barriers. That's an excellent effort and it requires a lot of cooperation.

Industry committee  If what you're saying is should we focus whatever fiscal room we have on making the cost of investment lower, that type of tax break versus a general tax break, the answer is you need to do a little bit of both, because some companies are much more capital-intensive than others,

Industry committee  Yes, I guess as a general statement I would say, of this idea of the federal government helping companies and industries that are in trouble, that you can waste a lot of the taxpayers' money trying to do it. You can also make life much more difficult for firms in the same industr

Industry committee  Generally we're going in the right direction, and it's particularly important for Canada. We have to make our living as a trading country, and it's really important that we take every opportunity to diversify ourselves from the Americans. I'm going away back to what Pierre Trudea

Industry committee  Well, I mean, you have to negotiate.