Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  I would also say that the NAFTA offers Canadian manufacturers and exporters tremendous opportunity and protection within the North American economy, but it doesn't cover everything here. From the point of view of the threat of opening up NAFTA, whether that would change our level

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We've been proponents of a Canadian content preferment for procurement—and it would not be possible at the federal level, but at provincial or local levels—to at least afford Canadian suppliers the type of access American suppliers have. Part of that is the transparency of the pr

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  I will give you an example. One of the great things I do in my job is I get to visit all these manufacturing companies and see what really is going on. If you go out to the Gilbey's distillery in Lethbridge--I also like to visit distilleries and breweries--this is one of the bigg

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  We do have some of the most lucrative tax credits for industrial research and development and business research and development, but I think one of the shortcomings of the system we have is the fact that these tax credits are not refundable. That means if you're making investment

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  When you look at sector-by-sector productivity numbers, the differences really stand out in two areas--machinery and equipment and information technology. We lag behind in those two areas as well as in some areas of pharmaceuticals. In auto, in metals, in plastics, in paper and

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Right now we're seeing productivity increase in manufacturing simply because we're seeing less competitive companies disappear. So overall we're seeing an increase in productivity in the sector, but when you look at operational process measures like work in progress as a percenta

Subcommittee on Canadian Industrial Sectors committee  Last year, when projects were going ahead in the oil sands and investments were being made, the outlook was that in the next ten years we were going to see $150 billion in investment, generating over $1 trillion in economic opportunity. Most of that would be open for manufacturer

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

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  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  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

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

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  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