International Trade committee  I would hope it might start by.... Well, this committee could be very helpful by including it in your report and asking for the other government departments to explain why they do not feel it's essential to meet the same standards.

International Trade committee  I don't think we have a specific cost right now, but what's happened is that it spreads out. For example, you cannot participate in some of these trusted shipper programs if you have other government reporting requirements because the risk assessment is all done on electronic rep

International Trade committee  The U.S. chamber was very much in front in dealing with the “buy America” issue. We were very pleased with how proactive and forceful they were in encouraging the government to reconsider its position. We remain concerned. We expect Congress, which by its nature has a history of

International Trade committee  I don't know that I can go into a great deal of detail on what can be done to move this forward, but I am hopeful that from the work underway in the government right now to figure out how to speed up funding for the infrastructure projects, there might be some lessons learned on

International Trade committee  Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this. What happens now is that CBSA has done a tremendous amount of work putting in place electronic data reporting systems, but they have no mandate. Even though many other government departments require information when you cross the

International Trade committee  You raise a very important point, and that is that our ability to take on any new, large infrastructure projects in Canada is fundamentally broken. It takes years and years to get approval. That doesn't mean we should be in any way undermining the needed reviews that must take p

International Trade committee  On the issue of fair trade and U.S. interest in including other issues in their trade agreements, we shouldn't view this as a challenge for Canada. Canada already puts environmental and labour clauses in our trade agreements. They're not identical, but very close to what the U.S.

International Trade committee  It isn't clear to me that this is what the U.S. is necessarily talking about. They won't give chapter 11 investor provisions to any new agreement, but my understanding is that the environmental and labour clauses, what they have negotiated in their recent agreements, is very clos

International Trade committee  We work very closely with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As you may remember, last year in February we released a joint report on the border with the U.S. chamber. We've just started to engage in an update of that report that will be released over the summer. Through that, we have

International Trade committee  I believe that the change in the head of the DHS will serve us well. She has a history of working cooperatively with business, while still very much keeping her eye on the security ball. She has extensive experience with the Mexican border, given where she's from, and is very int

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is pleased to provide input on the vital issue of Canada-U.S. trade relations focused on our joint border. I won't speak on the tourism industry, as Randy has already

International Trade committee  Actually, I was able to move my agenda, so I can stay for the full time.

International Trade committee  I'm afraid I don't agree with your assessment that the Colombian agreement has stopped in the U.S. Every indication that I've been given is that some negotiations are under way and that they expect to proceed with the Colombian and the Korean agreements. It will definitely go for

International Trade committee  You bring up a very important point. The free trade agreement is indeed an economic agreement; it is not the solution to all the problems, and it will never be the solution to all the problems. Part of what we need to do is look at what else we can do beyond a free trade agreemen

International Trade committee  As for all developing countries, every company needs to assess whether or not it's a good idea. You're right that Colombia is still a violent place. It can be a dangerous place, and that's part of the assessment that companies make. Canada is a world leader in the extractive sec