I have to say, as someone who's followed procurement policy for 20 years, that I was somewhat taken aback at the reaction in Canada to the Buy American preferences in the recovery act. They are a long-standing feature of U.S. policy. They have systematically excluded them from most of their international trade treaty obligations. They have very good exclusions.
The psychology of it is quite interesting, because, as you point out, I believe there was a change in the position of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. They had been advocating Buy Canadian policies, at least in certain specific sectors, and then suddenly, along with a number of other actors, they were, I would say, panicking about these Buy American provisions.
Now, it was partly an economic downturn. Our trade to the United States and to other markets was dropping quite dramatically, not because of the Buy American preferences, but because of the recession. It was also, as you state, the scope of the money.
I want to point out that of foreign countries, Canada was the primary beneficiary of the Obama stimulus package, that $787 billion. We benefited more, as their largest trading partner, than anyone else, except the United States. The Buy American preferences were an irritant, but they were a marginal loss.