Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to the committee, Minister. We appreciate your taking time to be here, and welcome also to your staff.
Minister, as you know, in March, Canada posted a record $3 billion trade deficit. That's the largest monthly trade deficit in Canadian history. This followed a huge trade deficit in February of $2.2 billion. We know that varying sectors and commodities go up and down, but there's no hiding the bottom line that Canada's 2015 trade balance is going in the wrong direction. Is this performance acceptable to you?