Foreign Affairs committee  No, we have not met these people.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. The ISO 26000 is not a standard but guidance that is being put together through the ISO process. It's an international process that is looking at a set of guidelines to help not just companies but NGOs, government, and all organizations to behave in a socially responsible manner.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. Actually, the Canadian chamber was not invited to be part of that consultation, so we were not involved in that process. There were others that were involved, and there were some recommendations made to the government, which the government reviewed, and it put the vast majority in place.

Foreign Affairs committee  I haven't asked my members if there would be a broad consensus, but the ones I have spoken to seem to be supportive.

Foreign Affairs committee  The EITI is a relatively new international standard that many Canadian companies already adhere to.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, there was a Canadian consultation. We agree with the statements that have been said before, and what Mr. McKay has said, that the government response to the consultation took way too long, but they have responded and they have put in place a framework now that provides a way to move forward.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. You bring up the issue of jurisdiction, and whose jurisdiction it is to be monitoring this, as well as what the role of Canada is. Whether it be the federal or provincial government, or whether it be the Canadian and Mexican government, or the provincial and state and federal government in Mexico, for example, jurisdiction is always an issue we need to be respectful of.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Chairman Allison. It's a pleasure to be back in front of this committee. As you know, we represent the broad base of Canadian business, with over 175,000 members. It is a pleasure to appear before this committee again on Bill C-300. We have resubmitted the presentation that was given by our president and CEO last November.

Finance committee  Thank you for that. We are always very encouraged when the federal and the provincial governments can work hand in hand on issues. In Canada it's the only way we can make any substantive progress on these tough challenges. All too often we see bunfights between the two levels of government, so we're encouraged by what we've seen.

Finance committee  We'd be happy to do that.

Finance committee  Thank you for that question. We have not asked our members if they would be interested in that option. It's simply not something that we could legally offer them. The question has never been tabled. Definitely, from our members' perspective, one of the things they look for from membership is something that will reduce their overall costs.

Finance committee  Thank you for that question. The gap area that we were focused primarily on looking at today is the gap where 50% of employees and the self-employed simply don't have access to pension plans. That's a serious problem that needs to be addressed, so we would urge this committee to make sure that in any report you have you clearly recommend that this gap be filled, along with some recommendations on how to do it.

Finance committee  One of the challenges the private sector faces today in filling that gap--and one of the costs that small businesses have to face especially--is that there's different legislation in the provinces and in the federal government. Some sort of cooperation or harmonization that would just reduce those costs is one more way to encourage companies to provide pensions for their employees.

Finance committee  As you know as a member, we do offer multi-employer insurance plans in a number of different ways. To have the opportunity to also offer a multi-employer pension plan is something we would definitely look at if it were an option for us, but right now the law does not allow that.

Finance committee  Anything that would in essence be a payroll tax, in one form or another, would definitely be of concern, especially to small businesses in Canada that are trying to get out of a very difficult downturn. While 2% may sound small, 2% over a broad base of employees can be a significant cost, especially when we're facing the very high increases in EI premiums that are coming.