Thank you, Mr. Menzies.
I've heard many of the discussions at G-20 meetings and G-7 meetings in the past year. It's common for everyone to talk about protectionism and avoiding protectionism. Unfortunately, we don't always see evidence of that, and sometimes we see some evidence to the contrary. Canada is exemplary in this way. Not only have we not been erecting barriers to trade, but we have been eliminating tariffs. In the budget this year we eliminated tariffs on a range of machinery and equipment, and this was legislated in the first budget bill this year. That was hailed by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters as an incredible move to make our exports more globally competitive.
Similarly, we're removing some other tariffs in this legislation that is before your committee. We also published draft regulations—I think they were published on Saturday last—with respect to the shipping industry as well and tariffs in that regard. The direction we're going as a government is toward the elimination of tariffs, which are, at the end of the day, barriers to trade.