International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, everyone. I can see that there are a few new faces around the table. First, I'd like to introduce the association that I have the privilege of representing here today. Then I will give you a little explanation as to why our association supports the free trade agreement that you are currently studying.

Finance committee  Could you tell me which graph you are referring to?

Finance committee  It is the one at the bottom. There is always a lag between when capital is available and when the company makes an investment. So that is one of the reasons why we ask that accelerated capital cost allowances be in place for a five-year period since there is always a delay between when we do the study and make the decision to invest and when the money is actually invested.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee today on behalf of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to discuss Bill C-2, the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement bill. I believe this is the third time, and I have to admit I also hope it's the last time, that I'm appearing before the committee on this issue.

International Trade committee  I think we should look at it--and we think we should look at it--from a business perspective. What's the best deal possible we can get? I think in most cases, if we could use our procurement market strategically, it would be to say that we'll give you access to our procurement market if you give us access to yours.

International Trade committee  Do Americans enforce thresholds? I know that for projects funded by the recovery act, for example, we have an exemption above a certain threshold. If the value of the contract is below that threshold, they have no choice but to apply by American rules.

International Trade committee  That is for recovery projects. For other types of contracts that are awarded by state governments, for example, I would tend to think along those lines. Typically municipalities and local governments--what are known as state governments in the U.S. or provincial ones in Canada--try to find the best deal possible for taxpayers.

International Trade committee  Actually, our message has always been consistent, and it is that we should use procurement policies as a strategic tool to develop our economy. In this specific case, with this deal with the Americans, what we're saying is that most of the time it makes more sense for us to guarantee other countries access to our procurement markets if we can get the same type of access to their markets.

International Trade committee  Thank you. I think it's a very good question, and it's one that we've been giving some thought to lately. One thing that's really good about the permanent aspect of the deal, which has access to those 37 states, is that it puts Canadian companies on an equal footing with European companies and companies from other countries that have signed on to this WTO agreement.

International Trade committee  Advertising is part of it, but I think it's much more than—

International Trade committee  But it's more about direct communications and making sure these governments understand that there has been a change in this international agreement, and that Canada is now in a special position to procure certain things to the United States.

International Trade committee  That's a very good question. It's very hard to come up with a precise number because it's a very complex question. We know the effects would be catastrophic in an environment where our companies have organized their supply chains and their business around the knowledge they have open access to the U.S. market and to a lot of other markets around the world.

International Trade committee  We track it by shipments and by export sales. Our membership accounts for approximately 82% of manufacturing shipments, about 90% of exports. That's what our membership networks account for. I don't know the number of employees, but I would assume it's along the same lines.

International Trade committee  I'd just like to add a comment to your last question, which concerned whether this protects us against future Buy American restrictions. At the federal level it doesn't. We consulted with some trade lawyers during the negotiations. There are some limits on the President's powers.

International Trade committee  That's a very good question. We actually asked ourselves the same question and we came to the realization...first of all, we didn't mention this already, but there were pressures in Canada to have similar types of protectionist policies, especially at the municipal level. There was a campaign orchestrated by some members of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which ended up actually being quite helpful in these negotiations, because you know the threat of retaliation always helps move negotiations forward.