I actually liked the way you started your presentation, because it laid out the relationship between the two countries, which is unique in the world. There are no two countries that even come close to the kind of trade we have and how integrated we are as two countries. I think you have to see and understand that before you can get a sense of how best to apply the law at the border.
I've had the opportunity as a co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group to spend most of my summer in the United States. If there's one thing they have told me loud and clear, it's that they're absolutely concerned about security. I don't think we quite catch how 9/11 has changed the paradigm down there. For them, anything they see we are not doing to protect that border and have security at that border becomes a very strong irritant. I believe that's what the passport issue and their insistence on everyone having a passport or equivalent document is all about.
When you have $1.9 billion in trade a day, it's a significant amount of money that is in jeopardy if we get this wrong. I think we're at a crossroads. If we get it right, then trade will flow even freer. If we get it wrong, millions and billions of dollars are at risk. So when it comes to arming the border, I concur that this is where we should go. We should have gone there earlier even.
Nonetheless, they have now moved to electronic surveillance, putting helicopters in the air sometimes for surveillance and so on. I want to know what the relationship is between our side and their side with regard to that kind of surveillance. It's an extension of the gun thing, but it's relevant.