Perhaps we can go with Mr. McTeague's proposal and let the minister know which issues we have identified as being the most relevant. Therefore, when he appears before the committee, he will already have had an overview of our concerns. At our meeting on Thursday, perhaps the parliamentary secretary can inform us of the minister's availability, to guide us along.
In my opinion, we have to look into the issue of global competition in the manufacturing industry, as well as research and development. How can we make this industry competitive again? That issue will also affect what we will do with the Free Trade Agreement.
To my mind, this question is one on which the committee can give the government the most profitable advice, given what is ahead of us. Things happen very quickly. In four months, we will already have begun discussions on next year's budget. Therefore, if we want to recommend measures that will help the manufacturing sector become more competitive, we have to start discussing this ahead of time.