Thank you very much.
I mentioned earlier that competitiveness in today's global economy requires Canadian companies to participate efficiently and effectively in global supply chains. In order to do that, you really must have access to world-scale competitive logistical and transportation systems.
My portfolio includes the Asia Pacific gateway, which is a series of transportation facilities and corridors, primarily in western Canada, which, as we invest in them, and as other stakeholders invest billions of dollars in them, will give Canadian companies the opportunity to participate in just-in-time supply chains, to become suppliers to these supply chains, to manage these supply chains, and to be world-class competitors.
I might also add that the gateway concept has applications across the country. People will recall that when the Vancouver port had a shutdown last summer, the repercussions were felt in central Canada, they were felt in Toronto, they were felt in Montreal, and they were even felt in Halifax. What we have to focus on is the fact that transportation gateways and transportation systems are going to be critical, not just to the west, but to all parts of Canada. And indeed, there is potential for gateways in eastern Canada, just as there is in western Canada.
I might underscore the fact that the transportation gateway concept in western Canada builds on the idea that we can move goods and services between Asia and all of North America, not just Canada. For example, when you ship containers through the port of Prince Rupert, you can then ship them right down the rail system to Chicago for dissemination into the United States market. You can do the same thing through Vancouver. Getting U.S.-bound products coming through our transportation system, and Asia-bound, U.S.-originating traffic going the other way, allows us to develop a transportation system that is far more efficient than if it were dependent on Canadian traffic alone.
So again, you're creating a transportation system and a competitive advantage that could be taken advantage of by Canadian companies. The same can happen in eastern Canada. We have the Windsor-border corridor. In a sense, that's a gateway. Montreal has been positioning itself as a transportation gateway, as has Halifax.
So the opportunities are substantial, and the link to competitiveness is very direct.