Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee, for allowing the Association of Equipment Manufacturers to appear this morning at this committee.
As an introduction, allow me to say a few words about the member companies of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. AEM represents the manufacturers of equipment that is used in the construction, utilities, mining, forestry and agricultural sectors.
I was speaking with a few of your members, and we've met with members over the years. For example, in the riding of Guelph, our members include Skyjack, with 500 employees; Blount, with 500 employees; and Hitachi, with 150 employees.
I was checking out some websites this morning. I'm glad to note that the honourable member from Vancouver Island was sitting on a member company tractor. We won't name names.