The trade agreements that Canada has with our trading partners provide very interesting and very advantageous opportunities for Canadian companies to export. It's a quid pro quo type of arrangement where foreign companies then have access to Canadian markets.
The current trade agreements, like NAFTA specifically, would prohibit what we call offsets, where we could put something in specifically saying that for this particular contract, it has to go to a local or a Canadian company, generally speaking. That's the trade-off of trade agreements. You get access to foreign markets and provide access here. The current trade agreements would prohibit doing that.
With respect to local, or with respect to the construction industry as a whole, as your colleague, the hon. member mentioned, the reality is that construction is very local now. There are not many companies from Victoria that are bidding on a job in Edmundston, New Brunswick. There are benefits that accrue locally in that particular industry just because it's advantageous.
There's no denying the fact that larger procurements have a consortia of Canadian and international businesses and different suppliers in that supply chain.