I call the meeting to order.
Good afternoon, everyone. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we will commence our briefing on the ongoing negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
We'll get started very shortly, but before we do I want to welcome our witnesses here today and thank them both for being here. I know that you have been very busy, so the fact that you're taking some time out of your busy schedules to be here and just give us an update is greatly appreciated.
From the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, I have Dany Carriere, who is the director of trade negotiations for North America, and Steve Verheul, who's the assistant deputy minister of trade policy and negotiations. Welcome, and it's good to have you here.
As I think you are no strangers to how committee works, we'll start with your opening statements, and then we'll move around the room over the next couple of hours, asking questions back and forth. It is not televised live, but there is a camera from Global TV, which will share the proceedings with other networks after we're done.
I'm going to turn the floor over to you, Mr. Verheul, to start with your opening remarks, and then we'll have some questions from our members.