Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first comments will be addressed to you, Mr. Hamel. Thank you for your presentation.
I'm quite privileged because in my riding of Beauport—Limoilou there are the Quebec carnival workshops, as well as the ExpoCité site with its future multifunction amphitheatre and perhaps a professional hockey team. We shall see what develops; man lives by hope.
I thank you very much for your presentation, because it in fact touched on concerns I have had for a long time. During my first year as a member of Parliament, I had the privilege of being my party's tourism critic. I was appalled by the massacre that took place at the Canadian Tourism Commission. There were some deep cuts. If the 2013 budget had simply not included an increase, there would only have been the inflation-related shortfall to deal with. But they clipped the wings and cut off one of the legs of the poor CCT bird. All that is left to do now is cut off its other leg and probably slit its throat.
All that to say that your approach is very interesting. A lot of your reflection is focused on the United States, which seems the obvious choice since it is a huge market just next door to us, basically.
Could you talk to us about the decline in tourism from the United States in connection with the American economic performance over the past two years? Has tourism declined more than expected given the performance of the American economy?