It's a very important point, because essentially what's we've seen...and we've had some discussions around this table about the merits of NAFTA and the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. The point that's continually brought to this table is the fact that most family incomes have actually fallen in Canada since 1989. So in a sense what we've had is a streamlining of wealth towards the wealthiest of Canadians, but most Canadians are actually doing worse than they were prior to the signing. When we couple that with the fact that all of our eggs are in one basket--86% of our exports are going to one market--that leaves us extremely vulnerable, as we saw with the softwood sellout, where essentially we capitulated and lost thousands of jobs as a result.
So how do we address that issue? In terms of infrastructure, all three of you have talked a bit about the possibility of trade agreements, whether they're the traditional free trade agreements or ones that are more substantive and include other components as a matter of some debate. In terms of what we can do now, regardless of whether or not we're signing additional agreements, what are the needs for infrastructure, what are the needs for federal government support, for expansions in terms of staff and trade commissioner offices throughout Southeast Asia that would make a difference over the medium to long term so that we can re-establish our real presence?
I'll have another question following that, if the chair permits it, or in the next round.