International Trade committee  There are ongoing consultations in two ways. First of all, there are very specific targeted consultations as issues arise. I can give you some examples of these. We also have ongoing consultations with a broad swath of industry through the Business Advisory Council and with the provinces.

International Trade committee  I think it would be best to turn to the representative from the legal bureau to talk about the kind of preparation we're doing and what we envisage could happen. Keep in mind that absent an agreement, we don't know exactly what U.S. industry would do and when. Certainly, the risk that they would take a petition is high.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question.

International Trade committee  We're well advanced in preparing a response.

International Trade committee  Yes, we have reviewed the report and its recommendations.

International Trade committee  We've had a very wide range of meetings, even over the past month, and regular calls with all provinces and a group called the Business Advisory Council, which includes a very broad spectrum of producers from across the country. We have, of course, reached out to first nations and unions as well.

International Trade committee  I can assure you that aboriginal groups and small producers are consulted as part of the ongoing work of ensuring that we have an approach that will yield a result that's commercially viable and that makes sense for Canada. For example—

International Trade committee  The position taken in the negotiations, reflecting our consultations with these companies, and other companies, and with the provinces, is that there needs to be an agreement that has optionality. In the previous agreement we had the option to have either quotas or to have export—

International Trade committee  I'll give a very broad answer, but I think it would be best for the companies to speak for themselves. What I can say is that in our consultations with these companies, with many of the organizations in British Columbia, and with the British Columbia government, the position that we have heard from most, but not all, is that a quota-only system, that is, a system that provided for a strict cap, would be unacceptable to them.

International Trade committee  Those were meetings that the U.S. government had requested for an informational basis. They wanted to better understand the positions of some of the larger Canadian companies.

International Trade committee  Some of them do, but not all of them. Some of the companies in question do have substantial investments in the United States—

International Trade committee  I don't know what the percentage is, but it's substantial. However, one of the companies in question has no operations in the United States, so it was not just companies with U.S. investments.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. My name is Martin Moen. I am director general of the North America trade policy and investment bureau at Global Affairs Canada. I am also Canada's chief negotiator in the softwood lumber agreement negotiations. With me from Global Affairs Canada is Robert Brookfield, the is director general of the trade law bureau.

International Trade committee  I think about a maximum of 10 minutes.

International Trade committee  Certainly; without the agreement, the risk to Canadian producers would be substantially greater. Certainly; that's about all I can really say.