There have been improvements in recent years, but much still remains to be done. Of course, there is the question of a budget. But we must still focus on the areas in which Canadians have a real interest in influencing the standards established internationally. To be in a good position to do so, we have to highlight the advances that our Canadian technology has made possible. We also have to anticipate what will be asked for internationally, but, to do so, much still remains to be done. We need a budget to do that monitoring so that we can help our companies involved in international trade.
I agree with Mr. Dulmage that the Canadian system is comparable to those in other countries. He mentioned Australia and Great Britain. Our notion of consensus is very robust and that allows us to establish credibility. However, that applies to consensual standards. The points of comparison are not at all the same with other kinds of standards. The notion of consensus is really very strong in Canada and that is to our advantage. We also have to make it possible for our companies to make use of it internationally.