I'm outraged when I think about this Chinese girl who came here at the age of six months, and who does not even speak a word of Chinese today. Her name is Francine Lajeunesse. She has been told that she cannot work on certain issues because she is a threat to the nation. The poor thing! It makes me sick. As you know, we work with children who have been abused. So I'm very touched by this as well.
We have spoken with various governments. We are pleased that the Canadian government has managed to get an exemption for ITAR for the entire bureaucracy. We know that a number of government and opposition members worked very hard on this.
We know that you did a great deal, Mr. Bachand. These efforts will have to continue, because it is very important to our industry.
At the moment, we have a good job pool and some alternatives for our people. However, the real solution is to exempt Canadian workers from these regulations. I do not think we represent a threat. We are doing a great deal of work for all American defence organizations. Some of the work is done here, and the finishing or installation of specific systems is done by our head office in Tampa, by the Americans. Even Mr. Brown, the President of CAE, is not entitled to see what is done there, and we respect that. We understand.
However, with respect to the work we can do in Canada, it is important that competent people have access to these jobs. The point I want to stress particularly is that if you can help the Canadian industry get an exemption, as was done for federal government employees, that would be wonderful. Please do not abandon us; continue with your efforts.