Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Minister, thank you for joining us. I'm sorry for the illness that's befallen you. I hope you get better soon.
Thank you to the officials for being here.
Minister, I'm going to start with mining. I appreciate that you're here on the estimates and on mining.
I thought it was quite telling, with respect to the visit of President Biden last week, that his speech in the House of Commons and also the joint statement that was issued by the Prime Minister and President Biden referenced mining in particular. We heard this in the context of his speech in the Commons when he talked about the critical minerals sector in particular. I'm reading from some of that joint communiqué. It specifically says:
Canada and the United States will work together to create a strong, environmentally responsible, and resilient North American critical minerals supply chain...committed to identifying, securing, and developing critical minerals extraction, processing, manufacturing, and recycling opportunities in both countries to diversify supply chains....
I know that you've been working extensively on this issue with your counterpart trade representative, Ms. Tai. Could you elaborate on the work you've been doing and the significance of this kind of statement coming from the U.S. President?