Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses.
I would like to ask my first question to Mr. Sinclair. I follow local government and local politics very closely. I spent nine years in local office—I was elected three times—and spent a couple of years in our provincial association in British Columbia. It's very important. In fact we have our elections for the municipalities across the province of B.C. this Saturday. It's very important. It's crucial that all levels of government work together, as there is only one taxpayer.
You made reference to a paper you had presented in Halifax in June. You talked about the proposed thresholds for some national governments being approximately $300,000 for goods and services and $8 million for construction and concession contracts. These thresholds are quite low by international standards. I would just like to clarify that those are actually WTO standards, the World Trade Organization, so they are international standards.
During the discussions you made some reference to the fact that municipalities are covered under the CETA procurement provisions, and local governments would lose a valuable policy tool for creating employment, protecting the environment, and assisting marginalized groups. However, we've heard from president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. We've had representation actually at committee from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. It did also meet with International Trade Minister Fast and said:
FCM welcomes the federal government's commitment to a CETA deal that creates new jobs and opportunities for Canadians while protecting the local decision-making that is the lifeblood of strong, healthy Canadian communities.
Because of my interest and passion and support for local governments, I understand the hard work they do. They all represent their constituents at the grassroots. They are happy with the CETA.
Mr. Sinclair, are you claiming to know what's best for municipalities and saying FCM is misguided?