Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just have a few minor questions here.
From my perspective, and perhaps the witnesses will disagree with me, probably the most significant portion of this agreement is the long-term effect, the agreement with the 37 states that will be permanently a part now of WTO rules for procurement, because stimulus comes and goes, and a large portion of this so-called stimulus package was social welfare transfers that had nothing to do with bridges or roads or anything. It was just what we would call transfer payments, by and large, here in Canada.
So my question is to Mr. Laurin. Thirty-seven states are now locked in with Canada under the WTO rules for procurement. Municipalities often take their guidelines and hints from the States. This is a long-term market opportunity for us as Canadians to get in there on procurement, particularly since these are states like California and New York, Michigan, Texas, and by and large the bigger states, with the exception of Ohio, are in there. What other steps should we recommend as a committee? What other things should we do to help your industries and other related suppliers to take advantage? What else do we need to do to allow your members to take advantage of this new opportunity?