Good afternoon everyone. Welcome.
I am sorry for the problems we had on Tuesday. It was nothing that we caused. Something caused a big gas leak, and I think good judgment was used to see that we would not have a meeting in the midst of a gas leak. We were looking forward to that meeting with Minister Freeland, of course, but it didn't happen. However, we have been assured that she will meet with us before the end of June. They're working on dates for her coming back to speak with us.
I welcome the witnesses here today. Thank you for coming. As you know, our committee is very active. We have just finished our huge study on CETA. We have also travelled across Canada on the TPP, and our report was tabled. We're also in the midst of a steel study. Right now, because of the various circumstances that face us on the North American side, our committee is doing a study on our relationships with our other trading partners in NAFTA going forward.
Our committee just returned a couple of weeks ago. We travelled to the western United States. It was a very well received trip. We went to Washington State and visited Boeing and Amazon. We were in California and Colorado. It was really good to start it that way. Our committee is planning on doing this in some eastern states also. We're going to Detroit, Michigan; and Chicago; and will finish up in Washington, D.C.
It was very good to get out to these other areas to meet other representatives, because many times we focus only on Washington. Of course, that is the centre of all activity, but it's very good to get to these other outlying areas. This month we are mostly going to have witnesses come forward to explain their take on our future relationship with those countries.
We try to keep it tight. We have quite a few witnesses, so if you could keep it to five minutes or less, we would appreciate it, so we can have lots of time for later dialogue with our MPs.
Today our witnesses are from the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance, the Canadian American Business Council, and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association. Welcome.
Without further ado, we'll start with the Canadian Business Council of Canada. You have the floor. Go ahead.