Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Stephenson, and the rest of your colleagues for being here this morning.
My colleague Mr. Harris and I are members of Parliament from British Columbia, so we have an appreciation for the softwood lumber agreement. We know it does provide that stability. Since certainty for the industry is difficult in the challenging times it is facing today, we know it would be a lot more difficult and challenging if we didn't have that agreement in place. I know that our predecessor, Mr. Emerson, worked hard to secure that agreement, and we're thankful it's in place.
I just wanted to follow up on my colleague Mr. Brison's comments about security, the thickening of the border. It's a real concern. As a British Columbian, I know we're hosting the 2010 Olympics, and also from a tourism perspective--tourism being a big economic generator for our province and our country--vehicle traffic is down significantly across our borders.
In terms of the discussions we've had, from your administration to President Obama's new administration, I know there was talk about the border being open for legitimate trade. Some barriers have been thrown up for agricultural businesses, for example, on the pretext of security.
I'm wondering if there is any change of thought in the Obama administration, versus the Bush administration, on how they're going to address agriculture and the movement of goods and services across the border.