Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here with us.
I have a question for the Chamber of Commerce. It's really a follow-up question to Mr. Cannings' about just-in-time inventory controls.
My riding is in the Lower Mainland, Langley, and there's a border crossing in Aldergrove between Aldergrove and Lynden, Washington. There's a lot of light manufacturing going on in my riding, and I talk to a lot of them. They have a problem with supply chain disruptions that are impacting their inventory management, and just-in-time inventory management is a challenge for them.
It's hitting these people in three ways. There's more working capital tied up in inventory. There's more working capital tied up in warehousing—and warehousing is very expensive in the Lower Mainland. Also, with high interest rates, there's a lot more money taken off the bottom line by financing all of this additional working capital.
My question to the chamber is this: Are you hearing this from your members, and what advice would you have for small and medium-sized operators?