Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. As I mentioned, information is the key factor. The big problem has been that it is easy to trade with the U.S. Everybody knows the language there is English and the customs are somewhat the same; it is pretty easy to go down and trade there. When things get tight in U.S. trade we start looking internationally and our companies, particularly the big ones, start dealing internationally. The biggest problem has been that a lot of smaller and middle sized companies, once the U.S. market returns, go right back to the U.S. market and forget about their international interests.
I do not want to encourage government to set up more bureaucracy to try to obtain business out of the country. That is not the answer. The answer is to work with business through seminars and joint ventures to get people out there and get them the contacts. Government provides the contacts, much as Team Canada did. It opens the door and then those guys go for it. We have to get them through the door. That is all government should be doing.
It is a matter of encouragement and of helping with the technical aspects but not direct involvement or government agencies doing the work for business. That will never work. It will just become another drain on society.