Thank you very much, Chair.
I'd also like to thank the parliamentarians, the ambassadors, and the chairmen for your presentations. Welcome to Canada. I hope you enjoy our beautiful country.
As you know, Canada is a trading nation. We have a population of 34 million, based on the latest census data. We're an exporting nation and look for markets with which to trade our goods and services. The vast majority of our jobs are linked directly or indirectly to trade. Trade is a very important component of our foreign policy and our foreign strategy. There seems to be a bit of a standstill when it comes to our ability to sign free trade agreements, especially in the past few years. We haven't signed any major free trade agreements with any of the countries or nations we're currently negotiating with.
One of the areas that were discussed at this committee--which I read about, since I recently joined this committee--is the focus on emerging markets. There's been a clear direction for us to focus on emerging markets like China, India, and Brazil. But I think there are opportunities with developed markets, especially Europe, so I'm glad to see you here today.
I know we have trade that amounts to about $11 billion, and there's close to $15 billion of foreign direct investment in our country. So I'm encouraged to see that a meeting took place last month, and that this trade agreement with the EFTA is coming along and we're nearing its conclusion.
But there are some major concerns that have been expressed to me by my Atlantic caucus and members who represent major shipbuilders. The area of concern in this free trade agreement is subsidies by countries. The example that has been brought to my attention by my caucus colleagues from Atlantic Canada is subsidies to shipbuilding companies and shipbuilders. We want to know what your views are on the elaborate direct subsidies that are given to shipbuilders. Is that something that has changed or will change, based on these negotiations that are taking place?