International Trade committee  The Halifax Gateway Council is housed within the Greater Halifax Partnership. We manage the council on behalf of the gateway partners: the port, the airport, railway, other partners.

International Trade committee  No, the chamber is not part of that.

International Trade committee  We do have a chamber of commerce, but they're not part of our organization.

International Trade committee  I think there are significant opportunities related to primarily the gateway, and the port, the airport, and more business on the railway. There are substantial flows of goods through the port to the rest of the country—the rest of North America, for that matter—from Europe, so e

International Trade committee  To add to the mayor's comments, right now municipalities in Nova Scotia are precluded by provincial legislation from providing grants to business. Getting into that game would require a change to that legislation.

International Trade committee  No, that's something that I guess we haven't looked at. So I would have no comment.

Finance committee  I believe in Vancouver most of the municipal contribution comes later, in policing and security and those kinds of measures. I guess I'm not on the committee, so I can't speak for them, obviously.

Finance committee  Our interest is in attracting any organizations or capacities that make sense for us, given our business case and our value proposition. If we can demonstrate that we can do a good job and that we can do it cost-effectively, then we would go after anything. Our competitive adva

Finance committee  Our interest is in serving the national interest. We simply happen to feel that Halifax represents an incredibly strong opportunity, not only for us but for all of Canada, to move freight, to move cargo through another avenue into our country and across North America. We like th

Finance committee  I don't have a number to give you. I can say I would expect the number to be in the same ratio as it has been in other of these kinds of events, as they've been funded and proposed across the country, in Vancouver and in other places.

Finance committee  My understanding of the Vancouver Olympics, for example, is that it's 50% federal and 50% local, provincially.

Finance committee  These investments have been, and will be, very valuable going forward, both in terms of the fabrication and also where these ships will be based over time. This kind of investment certainly has been well received in Halifax. We are, at the foundation of our community, a military

Finance committee  I'll respond in English. Thank you. I believe we have the support. We have not yet formally asked for support for the Halifax Gateway Council and the Atlantic gateway, but I believe that the Government of Canada will have a two-ocean policy and will step up when necessary.

Finance committee  Yes, that's absolutely correct. We lost about 6,000 federal government jobs, mostly defence jobs, in the early to middle 1990s. And while the rest of the country has built that back in more recent years, Halifax has not. We recognize the role that we've traditionally played in H

Finance committee  Yes, Nova Scotia and Halifax has had the largest per capita loss of federal government jobs over the last ten years of any place in the country.