International Trade committee  There's also a difference in obligations this time from the previous time. Before CUSPA, there were no commitments on the part of the U.S. states towards Canada. Procurement was covered only by NAFTA at the federal level. Now, with the commitment at the WTO, 37 states are covered

International Trade committee  I will start by answering your second question on what we are doing to ensure this doesn't happen again. As Mr. Allen said, the 2010 agreement contained a provision for discussions on possibly enhancing the procurement commitments between Canada and the United States. Those disc

International Trade committee  That is exactly the point we make to our U.S. friends. Because of the supply chains and the integration of the economies, putting restrictions and requirements on local content is going to prevent some of the companies in the U.S. from being able to bid on the contracts that are

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. On the first part, on the percentage of access on the first stimulus package the U.S. put in place in 2009, I guess in the assessment of that.... I know that it was largely discussed in the work of the committee at the time of the agreement. As you kn

International Trade committee  The court's decision came in response to a complaint filed by the US government respecting specific programs of two provinces, Ontario and Quebec. Consultations were conducted prior to the arbitration filing. The list of programs questioned by the United States was longer than th

International Trade committee  No, the programs put in place by the governments of Ontario and Quebec are provincial programs. Their introduction does not have to be authorized by the federal government.

International Trade committee  Those discussions took place, Mr. Carrier. In the final analysis, it was the Government of Quebec that decided to implement the programs. The review and evaluation of the programs are discussed in a cooperative manner between the various governments. Ultimately, each of the gove

International Trade committee  Maybe one part of last year's agreement was the acceptance of the provinces and territories to sign on to the government procurement agreement of the WTO. So already there, it's secured for Canadian suppliers the commitments that 37 states have taken under the GPA--

International Trade committee  I think it's 37. The way the GPA is structured, it's a positive list of entities, and even if the states had taken commitments, there are exceptions and exclusions to that. So maybe the progress that could be made on the list of entities covered is there's a way to shorten the

International Trade committee  I would say it's virtually impossible because the workload is too great. You'd have to survey every contract and see whether Canadian suppliers took part in calls for tenders and what the results were.

International Trade committee  That provision of the agreement provided for a 12-month period from the effective date, which was February 16, 2010. So we beat the deadline by a week. The commitment was to sit down and discuss the possibility of deepening procurement commitments. The first meeting was held yes

International Trade committee  The timetable focuses more on the immediate work and its various stages. Possibly around April or May, there will be another meeting to discuss preparatory work aspects that will have to be carried out on both sides.

International Trade committee  This is an agreement to access government procurement and government contracts of the various government entities. There is no study as such establishing the specific result, in dollar terms, establishing what the impact was. As Mr. Stephenson mentioned, the consequence of the p