International Trade committee  Jordan is not a member of the gulf--

International Trade committee  I will ask Martha Harrison to expand on this. Quite frankly, I think there is huge, untapped potential in Syria for Canada, and particularly in Kurdistan. Obviously the Americans have put an embargo on Syria, which restricts the freedom of their companies to operate. That's an opportunity for Canada.

International Trade committee  Again, I don't know the details, but I know there is quite a developed military equipment industry in Jordan. They make special light vehicles that are comfortable travelling through the sand and through the desert. I know from my time in the region that there were a number of Canadian companies involved in supporting some of those activities.

International Trade committee  I don't know a great deal about the details of our economic relationship with Jordan, I'll be honest. But in the reading I've done, I've been struck by the role SNC-Lavalin, for example, is playing in the development of the Jordanian nuclear industry. There's an example of an agreement automatically leading to a very considerable Canadian export.

International Trade committee  I apologize. I wanted to touch base on this U.A.E. Camp Mirage, but I'll do that in another context. I'm sorry.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I'll let Martha expand on my comments, but very briefly, I think one has to acknowledge that the business model is very much a different one. As you say, it's a family oriented one in the Arab world, as it is in much of the Middle East. That actually has very significant impacts, particularly when the government may be part of that family business.

International Trade committee  The trade commissioner and his colleagues are based in Damascus, and his territory is responsible for Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon--four countries.

International Trade committee  Well, I'll ask Martha Harrison to help me with the labour question, which is certainly a legitimate one. Again, I don't want to fall back on a platitude, but I firmly believe that something is better than nothing. It gives you an entree, it gives you an opportunity to ask the question, have the meetings, and review the actual on-the-ground situation in the context of your standards, because they are party to this joint agreement.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Julian. I couldn't agree with you more. I remember I was attending the Dubai air show—this would have been four or five years ago—and the President of Brazil came with a very large delegation to the Middle East. Of course, our trade to Jordan had a nice bump up when Bombardier sold some aircraft to Jordan, but Embraer very effectively sold a number of aircraft to Saudi Arabia.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much for your question. I think it's a very important one. I personally believe, as I tried to imply in my opening remarks, that in order to move forward, we have to be bound together. I have not studied closely the provisions related to labour in this particular agreement, but certainly my experience and my advocacy would be to strongly endorse moving forward on this, because the simple reality is that without the provisions that are there, we have virtually no influence.

International Trade committee  A study was commissioned and in fact presented by a number of business associations in January or February of this year that included the Canada China Business Council, the Canada Africa Business Council, the CABC, and others, of course. The challenge we face is that our visa standards have been far more rigorous and I'd say administratively difficult than our competitors', and that includes the Middle East.

International Trade committee  I'll ask Martha to comment on this as well, if she will. I highlighted this overseas employment tax provision because it's something, quite frankly, that I wasn't aware of myself. Increasingly, we are looking at figures of perhaps $70 million in our trade to Jordan. But if you add the service component—in which I would include education, students studying in Canada, and so on—those numbers are probably double, at a minimum.

International Trade committee  Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, I just have one quick point. I recently had the privilege of meeting the Minister of Trade for the Province of Kurdistan in Iraq. He was telling me that 17 consulates have opened in Kurdistan with trade offices from other countries. Of course, we're servicing that out of Syria, as Martha says, with four other countries, including Jordan, as a responsibility.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. There were several points that certainly I would endorse in Mr. Cannis' remarks. First and foremost, I think this varies depending on the regions and the cultures, but based on my experience in my four years of living in the Middle East, the role that government can play, the role that agreements play, the role that meetings and personal contacts play cannot be overestimated.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair and members of the Standing Committee on International Trade, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to meet with you this afternoon. For my colleague, Martha Harrison, and me, it's a privilege and indeed an honour to be included in your deliberations on Bill C-8.