International Trade committee  Mr. Chair, thank you for the generosity of your time. You've given us well over an hour, and I take that as a compliment and a reflection of your interest. If I can speak personally, I also view international trade as almost a non-partisan issue in Canada. Therefore, again I repeat my comment that I think this committee has a particular role to play in supporting this government, the next government, and the previous government as we go forward and build this international economic relationship.

International Trade committee  Certainly. With enormous apologies, I read these statistics, which I printed off this morning, incorrectly. It's $4.89 billion. That's the number.

International Trade committee  Exactly. Those are the figures, and that's what should be on the record. I'm very sorry for misleading you. I quite honestly glanced at the bottom figure in this presentation--

International Trade committee  Yes. These are from Statistics Canada. In 2009, at the end of the calendar year, these were the export only figures: for the United Arab Emirates, $1.3 billion; Saudi Arabia, $1.2 billion; Egypt, $639 million; Iraq—interestingly enough—$489 million; Libya, $263 million. The two-way trade for Jordan is $107 million.

International Trade committee  I think the Canada-Arab Business Council is an interesting example. We are completely membership- and event-driven. We have about 100 members. It includes most of the major Canadian exporters to the region: SNC-Lavalin, Nexen, and others. We rely completely on their modest annual subscriptions and the revenue we make from holding certain events and trade missions.

International Trade committee  Yes. I did say--

International Trade committee  Well, Mr. Keddy, I certainly would agree with that comment very strongly. This is symbolic as well as practical. To step back at this point in our relations with the Arab world I think would have, quite honestly, an enormous consequence. I welcome the tone of this discussion certainly and encourage that this will enjoy a rapid approval by Parliament.

International Trade committee  I think you're right, but I have the figures here, so I'll clarify and confirm.

International Trade committee  I think that's a very powerful suggestion, quite frankly. I'll give you an example, if you'll allow me, Mr. Chair. Canada just signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia in the health care sector. To implement that, the provinces of Ontario and Alberta, Export Development Corporation, and the Canada-Arab Business Council all thought we would organize trade missions to go forward.

International Trade committee  Thank you.

International Trade committee  No, absolutely nothing.

International Trade committee  America is a complicated friend and partner. Certainly they have, in their own right, gone out of their way to build a very complex network of trade agreements in the region. Egypt, Morocco, and others, as I mentioned in my remarks, are already active in Jordan. With our own trade relations and economies bound together, my view on policy is that we should be lock-step with the Americans.

International Trade committee  Certainly you as parliamentarians know that some countries are harder to govern than others, and there's no question that the countries in the Middle East have their challenges. But as Martha Harrison has said, you have in the leadership of Jordan exceptional people, and certainly in the role of Queen Rania as a spokesperson of that region and her country.

International Trade committee  Thank you. Certainly I think Jordan is as good a place as any to start, and it happened quickly, on which, again, I compliment the government and those involved in the negotiation. It seems to have been relatively non-controversial as well. If you look at some of the other countries in the region, you're going to touch some hotter buttons, whatever they could be, shipbuilding or whatever.

International Trade committee  I think it's as comprehensive as is probably appropriate and needed at this particular time. It's open for amendment. Quite frankly, what I found most attractive about it is that it was undertaken and negotiated quite expeditiously. I think it's better to have many of these rather than one perfect one.