Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to members of the government for joining the committee today.
I want to pick up where Mr. Christopherson left off. It's actually quite surprising that it is so easy to skirt the system, in terms of bringing commercial goods into the country and of the duties that are payable.
My own experience crossing the border at Niagara with backpacks for kids in government housing is that it is actually very difficult to bring goods in. I've been charged commercial duties, sometimes personal duties, sometimes no duties, based on the agent or whatever at the border. That there are people going by with goods in their trucks that are eventually going to be changed so that they can skirt the number of dollars they need to pay up front has really two effects. The first one is that the Government of Canada could potentially become the largest funder of some of these businesses. Essentially, we're banking American or other businesses and helping them compete with Canadian businesses—which is the second outcome.
You have to balance the speed with which things can get across the border to ensure that it is a process that isn't too onerous and actually dissuades trade, with protecting the interests of our border, of our country, of our businesses. How do you foresee changing this system to balance these factors? The honour system apparently isn't working, in many cases.