Well, Ben, I hope your final thesis isn't on your last option. I don't think that's good for Canada. I realize you just threw it out for discussion, and I think you'll find that most people around this table will realize it's not an option.
I find it interesting that so many of you have raised the importance of the WTO. I've always been a strong supporter of the multilateral, because we can get some dispute settlement mechanisms with some teeth in them, some sort of international trade rules that can protect us. If I could, we're looking for a way to restart this. I'm hoping that on November 8, after the U.S. election, we actually might have a snowball's chance in you-know-where to get this thing going again, because it is so critical for this country. I would like some ideas specifically on how we may restart it, if you would share those with us. Is there something this government is missing, something we can do to help kick-start it?
Glen, you made a comment about competitiveness, and I see that investment protection is an issue you have talked about. Something that I'm trying to get back on this government's agenda is the ICSID convention. I'm not sure how familiar you are with it; it's the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Something like 130 countries belong to this ICSID convention; Canada is one of them, yet we're not a signatory to it, so basically we have left Canadian companies that invest in other countries vulnerable to piracy of their investments.
We're trying to get this. We're very close. We have legislation there that we can put back on. Would you share your thoughts on how important it is that we actually sign on to this? I realize it's a provincial and a federal issue. We have most of the provinces on side; a couple of them are this close.
Could we have your comments about that, please?