Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Minister, first of all, I'd like to express to you my sincerest gratitude for your presentation today. You occupy a very important role as it relates to the Canadian economy.
As far as I'm concerned, the number one challenge this economy faces is the productivity gap between us and the United States and other countries. That has, of course, an impact on our standard of living. I was happy to note in your presentation that competitiveness, as well as productivity, is in fact part and parcel of your beliefs as they relate to the Canadian economy as we try to compete in the world market.
I want to take a broader approach and get a sense from you, as the minister, what we can in fact expect from you. You obviously are a believer in deregulation. This is the philosophy that you seem to be promoting. How far are you going to go with that? Does it go beyond the telecom issue?
As well, I would like for you to address the issue of foreign ownership, which has not been mentioned. I refer to the OECD study that essentially urges Canada to change its rules. If I may quote from a couple of individuals, one was Don Drummond, the chief economist of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, who said, “It reduces competition, and so it keeps prices up artificially high.” The C.D. Howe Institute stated, “Without change, capital-starved Canadian companies will fail to commercialize much of the nation’s R&D investment.” So how big of an issue is this for you, and will you be acting on this particular issue in the near future?