Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for coming, and obviously for your important work.
Just to introduce myself to the rest of my colleagues, I am now the opposition critic for Public Works and Government Services, so I'm here in that function.
I'll give you a little bit of context. You may be aware, and no doubt you are, that the Americans have put forward a bill that includes a Buy American provision. Surrounding that, I'll be asking you questions about your role.
As you know, within NAFTA there are a number of exemptions for purchases of goods. These include the RCMP, National Defence, and a number of other things: R and D, health, social services, but also contracts below $28,000. But between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2008, there were 466 contracts under the NAFTA threshold that were awarded to vendors in the United States. For example, Public Works and Government Services Canada had a contract to a Missouri firm for industrial sewing machines at Corrections Canada.
My first question is this. Do you advise the government departments on the use of Canadian suppliers?