Mr. Speaker, allow me to congratulate the Canadian Commercial Corporation, or CCC, and its president, Hugh O'Donnell, on having just won for the second consecutive time the Auditor General of Canada's award of excellence for its annual report.
The CCC is not well known, but we have all heard of the Canadarm used on space shuttles. The CCC was responsible for selling it to NASA. More recently, the corporation was also instrumental in fulfilling Canada's commitment to helping resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, by using its contract negotiation skills to make helicopters available to the observers.
The CCC helps Canadian companies secure export contracts—over $1 billion in new contracts last year alone—and, as suggested by the Auditor General's award, it performs its duties with transparency and in a responsible manner.
The Canadian Commercial Corporation is involved in promoting trade and investment, two tenets of the government's economic strategy. Most of its clientele is comprised of small, growing companies, the engine of job creation in Canada. With fewer than 100 employees, the CCC is truly a gem among crown corporations.
Congratulations on its excellent work.