I don't often get to bat cleanup. I'm usually a number eight or nine batter, so I appreciate this, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Murphy, for being here. I think it's appropriate that we're in Parliament itself today for this committee hearing. Long before NAFTA was around, I believe in 1961, President Kennedy, just a couple of hundred feet away, addressed the Canadian House of Commons and said the following:
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.
Of course, this was long before NAFTA was around, or the Canadian-American free trade agreement, but I think those sentiments remain true today. I think your testimony certainly highlights some of that partnership that we'd like to see maintained beyond any renegotiating of NAFTA.
“Economics has made us partners”: I think that's the key thing for our purposes here. It's part of the reason that NAFTA is so important. I think President Kennedy was alluding to the partnership between Canada and the United States of America as countries, but there are also partnerships at the local level, and partnerships obviously at the business level. There are subsidiaries of parent companies on both sides of the border. This economic partnership far exceeds anything beyond just two nations and two countries. I think it's key for us keep that in mind. It's important to remember that. I am from an area of the country that relies heavily on auto manufacturing. Magna International is headquartered and has a lot of operations in my riding. Thousands of my constituents have jobs that depend on a robust manufacturing centre. The company is thriving and doing quite well, and of course I would like to see that maintained, so I appreciate your being here today.
I understand that you've been involved with a lot of trade deals through your professional role. I just wonder if you could elaborate a little bit, in the few minutes we have left, on the hallmarks of trade deals that you see as being successful. I agree with you that the trade balance or deficit is not the best barometer. What sort of measuring stick should we be using? What characteristics of trade deals that you see as successful should we strive for if we're striving to improve this trade deal?