Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the witnesses here today.
We're hearing that the challenges Canadians are facing with protectionism, tariff risks and broader geopolitical uncertainty are increasing costs, disrupting supply chains and making it harder for businesses to plan and invest with confidence. The word “confidence” is very important. Building resilience is going to mean expanding those trade opportunities and strengthening those supply chains to make it easier for businesses to operate across Canada.
I'll start my questions with the chamber. We've worked together, and we met over the summer in the consultation periods. It's been very helpful. I've also met with a number of the provincial chambers of commerce and then locally with chambers of commerce right down to the small town BIAs and boards of trade. It's a very good way of finding out what's going on with businesses.
It's important for me to ask you this. You're saying that exporter optimism is not there right now, but how would the building Canada strong act's measures to strengthen coordination among ports, railways and road infrastructure, along with clearer timelines, improve our reliability and competitiveness as a trading partner, and what would that do for confidence for Canadian businesses?