Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the two of our three witnesses we knew before.
Mr. Hammoud, welcome for the first time and thank you.
Ms. George, I liked your comment about the kids playing hockey together. I'm glad that we ratified this agreement on February 16 and didn't wait until February 28 after we won the gold medal. It could have been even more difficult.
Seriously, this is definitely something we've heard from various organizations, like the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, who were at our last meeting. It's Canada's largest trade and industry association and they supported the agreement. Also, the Forest Products Association of Canada, FPAC, spoke resoundingly in support of this. I was with them last week at a luncheon and they said the best thing this government has ever done was to ratify the softwood lumber agreement.
Maybe, Mr. Grenier, you don't have the same opinion as those in the industry who have to work day in, day out, but philosophically, I guess, that's the difference between academics and the real world.
The other aspect is the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. I spent nine years in local government. The FCM fought tooth and nail for local government and for manufacturers. They had a news release and were supportive of this. The provinces and territories came out in support.
Where I'd like to bridge to you, Ms. George, is in the fact that your president, Mr. Beatty, was quoted as saying that the Buy American deal “has also resulted in greater cooperation between provinces and territories and the federal government--a long-awaited, but very welcomed accomplishment”. I wonder if you could speak on behalf of your association and your president about what this type of cooperation means for Canadian businesses.