Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have to start off by saying I can't resist noticing that in the document Mr. Kelly spoke about, the concern he expressed in the fact that EI premiums will begin to increase again in 2011 is recognized quite clearly as a payroll tax. In other words, Canadians will be on the hook for higher taxes from the current government beginning in 2011.
I'd like to direct my first question, however, to the Canadian manufacturing and exporting group.
Mr. Brownlee, you used some very strong wording in describing what appeared to be a fairly bleak situation, although there are some hopeful green shoots or there is some light at the end of tunnel, those kinds of things. You talked about the survival of the fittest. You talked about the perfect storm. You talked about an economic tsunami. This is not your garden variety of recession, and I agree with you. I think there are some profound and permanent changes occurring in the manufacturing sector in this country, and it is something we must aggressively attend to. This is not just something we'll ride out and will go back to where it used to be after this recession is over.
You went through your presentation and you talked about some of the priorities that are of concern to the people you represent, the organizations you represent. I'd like to get from you a sense of where you think the government, at the moment, has been helpful, if there has been any particular area that you consider to be valuable and helpful to your association with the predicament it finds itself in, and to go into a little more detail on what you consider to be the most important priorities.
I notice that you talk about the difficulty in accessing financing, but you talk about a number of other things. I'd like to differentiate between what you consider to be things the government can help you with versus things your companies have to deal with themselves. There are things here that talk about productivity improvements, doing more research to innovate, and what have you. What do you consider to be your side of the job, versus where you feel it's legitimate and important for the government to help you?