Certainly.
For those committee members who are not aware, we've launched a panel of private sector leaders from Atlantic Canada to identify the greatest economic growth opportunities that will help improve productivity in our region, which historically lags behind.
The three maritime provinces find themselves ranked at 58th, 59th and 60th in terms of productivity per capita among states or provinces in North America. We need to do better. This is what motivated me to run for office in the first place, and having the advice and perspective of private sector leaders whose reputation is unassailable is going to help identify the biggest opportunities.
Some of the conversations I've been having adjacent to the panel—which you would see in Halifax, MP Miedema— are remarkable. Think of what Halifax is doing in defence. It's not just the shipyard: NATO, in looking for a defence innovation accelerator, chose Halifax. The start-up community—not just in Halifax, but across Atlantic Canada—is remarkable in the defence space.
Obviously, primary industry continues, with forestry, fisheries, agriculture and mining, but we have massive opportunities to increase exports and to embrace AI in particular as a growth strategy with some of the work that's going on at Dalhousie University in your constituency.
Before I finish, I should mention the renewable energy opportunity, with offshore renewables in particular providing a game-changing economic opportunity like we've not seen in my lifetime. The panel will help shine a light on what these opportunities are and also offer validation based on the panel membership's many decades of collective experience.