International Trade committee  I'm sorry, but I am unaware of what arrangements the Indians make on their side to consult their states. I'm only concerned with engaging my provinces and territories.

International Trade committee  Luc, are you aware of the details?

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely, and I guess I do believe that a rising tide lifts all boats, and if you improve the economic opportunities available to Indians, some of the other socio-economic indicators will also improve. Certainly it's good for Canadian business, because if you want to be co

International Trade committee  No, because I also said that one of India's interests in Canada is access to technology. Very small Canadian businesses that are already active in the Indian market can provide the technology. I think that our challenge at the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service is to help smal

International Trade committee  We all have a favourite statistic about why trade is important to Canada. My favourite is that Canada represents 0.5% of world population and 2.6% of world trade. The difference between the two numbers is our high standard of living. Another way to say it is that we make twice as

International Trade committee  Let me try to answer the various parts of that question. I would have to check this first, but I think that our free-trade agreement with the U.S. and NAFTA have been very positive for Canada. I might have to check the figures to be able to give you an accurate answer. I think t

International Trade committee  They recently concluded agreements with Japan and South Korea. They have not concluded one with Europe. They're in negotiations with Europe.

International Trade committee  The prior negotiations of India help us a great deal, to the extent that the obligations that have been negotiated are satisfactory and sufficient to meet Canadian interests. No trade agreement is a legal precedent for what you will negotiate with the next partner. Certainly ho

International Trade committee  On the Indian side, there appears to be a fairly well-organized and defined procedure for consultation with business, and it involves the two principal business associations: the CII, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the FICCI. It's the Federation of Indian.... I'll get

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  They will be addressed in the negotiations. That's typical of our approach in negotiations. We will look for opportunities to establish fast-track mechanisms for dealing with the resolution of issues, for disputes in the area of sanitary-phytosanitary rules and technical barriers

International Trade committee  I usually like to say it's not dead--it's resting.

International Trade committee  It's difficult in the current global environment to see sufficient leadership being shown to bring the round to an early conclusion. That's my assessment: I don't think it's for any time soon--

International Trade committee  I don't really see an alternative, as long as all your other trading partners are doing the same thing. You can only fall behind.

International Trade committee  For the same reason that the comment was made about the U.S. deal with Korea: we could provide our exporters with a tariff advantage over their competitors in other countries, including the United States, if we were successful in negotiations with India first.