Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank Mrs. Grenier and the other witnesses for their presentations. They reminded me of the time I was first elected to the House. It was in 1979. Today, I feel like we're living the same dilemma as we did then. At that time, I was the MP for Shefford. We had the Hessman Mills and other clothing manufacturers. The debate was almost the same. Only the players were different. Have we not been able after all these years to find our niche?
During the last electoral campaign, I heard about a few success stories. For instance, I went to the Mégantic—Compton area where a textile company specializes in the manufacturing of fabrics for office chairs. The owners told me that since they specialized in small orders, they had been able to hire more employees than ever because they stopped trying to compete with the Chinese. They only dealt with small orders, with specific colours and materials. This specialization saved them and gave them wings. I hear about specialization since 1979. The only specialization we could witness over the years was job specialization. Now the business model seems to be changing.
Mrs. Grenier, you worried me when you said that your business is not importing anything right now. It's the term “right now” that's worrying me. Are we still looking for a niche or a specialty? Did programs like CANtex help? I'm trying to figure out the situation we're in because the debate is exactly the same as 30 years ago.