International Trade committee  No, I don't think we could. I don't think we want to go there. But I can tell you that it's the only issue, in building allies in the United States in the business community and among business associations, that can say that these buy America provisions should not be in legislati

International Trade committee  It would depend on what the range of procurement projects actually is, but if you look at the municipal waste water and clean water industry, you're looking at $1.9 billion coming from the United States into Canada. You're looking at about $600 million of exports going from Canad

International Trade committee  That's right.

International Trade committee  We have three municipalities in Ontario that have signed on to the Halton Hills resolution. That resolution is going to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities at its conference on June 6 and is driven by local municipalities. So we'll see June on 6 if there's a resolution comi

International Trade committee  Well, it certainly is threatening jobs in Canada. We have identified around 250 of our members who are affected just by the Water Quality Investment Act alone here, who are selling into municipal and state water technology and clean water and waste water sectors. Many of these co

International Trade committee  I think the buy American issue is a good one to discuss.

International Trade committee  It cannot be handled within the institutional context of NAFTA, although I would argue that there are grounds for doing so, because this is federal legislation imposing federal conditions on how federal money is being spent. You could argue that this should be tied to the federal

International Trade committee  I think that's right, but as you'll find yourself among your own constituents, the people you pay attention to most are people within your district, your constituency. Of course, it's the same thing with U.S. legislators. What will make a difference is if U.S. business groups or

International Trade committee  It's certainly an issue of concern here. You're right that it's not clear that Canadian exporters are safeguarded here under the NAFTA at state and local levels. Of course, it took longer for Canada to negotiate an internal procurement agreement than it did for us to sign the NAF

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and bonjour, mesdames et messieurs. Thank you for the invitation to come to speak to you on a number of issues with respect to Canada-U.S. relations. We certainly have a number of concerns right now, extending from the growing complexity of costs

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  I would say that one of the big problems with small companies is that they're small and that we're expecting them to be experts in trade, experts in regulatory affairs, experts in HR, experts in product, experts in everything, and they just don't have the resources to do that. M

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  I'd be pleased to do that. We often see the oil sands as an Alberta resource or a western Canadian resource, and we forget about the commercial opportunities. We also tend to forget that 60% of the taxes raised as a result of oil sands development are paid to other jurisdiction

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  That's right. That was really the reason we developed it. This was a project we began with Industry Canada and with the Alberta government and the Quebec and Ontario governments. They're all still very active partners in this. Companies in Alberta were experiencing many problem

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Deodorant that has already been inspected in the United States is inspected again when it comes into Canada. Why? I would think that's a good example. American and Canadian underarms aren't all that different. Why do we need a double inspection system? I'm not saying we should h

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Yes, you are right. One of the benefits of the Quebec tax credit is that it is refundable, and I think you see the benefit of that system by the amount of R and D that is done in Quebec. Maybe as an economist I can say this. When I deal with economists at the Department of Fina