Mr. Chair, thank you.
Thank you very much for coming, gentlemen.
I listened to Mr. Beatty talk about some of the esoteric border issues, etc., but I'm pretty much a bread and butter type of person. My riding is in southeastern Ontario. A lot of the manufacturing there requires a seamless border. In order for companies to meet payroll and to stay in business, they have to make a little bit of profit, and the thickening border doesn't do that for them.
From listening this morning to much of the presentation, I think the reality is the fact that Canada really doesn't have a profile in the United States to the extent it should, given our importance to them vis-à-vis our economies and foreign policies. We don't differ a heck of a lot from the U.S. in many, many instances. We have some differences, yes, and that's good, but I think if you have an empty stomach, if your companies and your plants around you are closing, a lot of the other good things don't matter. You need to put a roof over your head and bread and butter on the table, so you need that border lightened, not thickened.
Earlier in the week we were reading about what it takes for Canada to get seen, what it takes for Canada to get on their radar screen, and I'm going to come back to Mr. Beatty's talk about how closely we're entwined with NORAD, which might be a good way to approach issues at the border.
Mr. Kergin, you lived for many years in the United States, representing Canada and trying to get Canada on their radar screen. When I read one of your statements earlier this week that you could stand in front of the Washington Monument with all your clothes off and still not get the national media coverage you'd like, I thought about what we've been doing recently, with the Prime Minister trying to get on American television and saying—at least to the business community, or to the average American for whom bread and butter issues mean something—“Hey, we're important to you; you may not think about it, but we are.”
I guess my first request for a response would be from Mr. Kergin, and a little bit from Mr. Beatty and Mr. Muller. I know it can't be business as usual, but do you not think, number one, that we need some kind of campaign—not an advertising campaign, but...?
I guess, Mr. Beatty, the challenge would be for you to get on the speaking circuit of the U.S. chambers of commerce and talk to those folks about the issues, so they can talk to their congressmen and senators.
Mr. Kergin, from a government perspective, how can we get Canada on the radar screen without having to resort to taking our clothes off in front of the Washington Monument?
Mr. Muller, how do you think we could change some of the practices at the border, because, as Mr. Beatty said, we can't keep mirroring what they're doing on the other side, because it's going to end up being somewhat of a stalemate and we're not going to get ahead? But if we don't, they're just going to shut us off. To me, you can get around that by using the NORAD type of experience.
Starting with Mr. Kergin, then Mr. Beatty, and then Mr. Muller, could you respond to some of those thoughts and statements?