Thank you all for good presentations.
I would like to focus my question on productivity. I heard from Ms. Lane and Mr. Davidson a little bit on the internal trade barriers and the labour mobility between provinces, as well as strategic trade, safer workplaces, and human capital policies.
One thing I believe we do suffer from is in terms of productivity. That means competitiveness. That means a better place in the world market, especially if we can encourage—and we do encourage—trade agreements, free trade agreements with the rest of the world. It would be nice to sign free trade agreements, but if you're not in a competitive position, you'll be losing more than you will be gaining.
My question is to Mr. Davidson, Mr. Hicks, Ms. Lane, and whoever else wants to participate. How do we improve productivity among our industries, specifically in Manitoba since we're here; and why do we always ask the federal government to interfere when I do believe the private sector is the main factor in working on that because they will be front stage to do so?