International Trade committee  If you don't set a really good aspirational challenge, you don't create the burning platform for the alignment or for business itself. We were talking before about a small company's business leadership stepping up. I hope, and this was a part of the thinking here, that GMAP itse

International Trade committee  I don't think there were. The representation was mainly from the export side or the businesses that were actually doing the business. That's really what the strategy was aimed at, recognizing the need that all businesses have to be able to move people from location to location w

International Trade committee  I'm not as pessimistic as some people who do the analysis and the economics are because I do see a lot of investment in new products, and there's the fact that our exports are back at pre-recessionary levels. It has taken a long time to get there, but it's not as if we've dropped

International Trade committee  I think there were four meetings over a period of a year. The first meeting was really to scope out the exercise: what it was all about and what the objectives were, setting the framework for the analysis there. Between the meetings, we were actively engaged with other associatio

International Trade committee  Definitely.

International Trade committee  Right.

International Trade committee  No, there's not, and there's no silver bullet either here. There's nothing that any government can do to assure the success of a company that, from a business point of view, doesn't have the right business model, doesn't have the right product, or at the end of the day doesn't ha

International Trade committee  I think more to align policy and programs to support.... If we're focusing on international business development, and I am only thinking from the point of view of, say, a small exporter looking for new customers in new markets, they are going to have to really customize a new pro

International Trade committee  I think there's a need for better alignment. We have a number of programs that are out there: NRC's IRAP for example, the work that FedDev is doing, which is excellent. FedDev is investing in productivity improvements on the part of small businesses in southern Ontario, if those

International Trade committee  I have maybe a couple of ideas around communication. These are areas where we are actually partnering with trade commissioners, EDC, other agencies, and other trade associations. I think we need a single window of access particularly for small companies. It would really make it

International Trade committee  Building on that, the red tape issue is important and it's not just in foreign markets. In the animal vaccine market there are companies that produce vaccines here in Canada that Health Canada is no longer giving a certificate of quality to and therefore cannot export because und

International Trade committee  Let me start off by saying sometimes I think we regard small exporters as multinational corporations. We expect them to be experts in regulatory management, international trade, and legal affairs in their ability to very rapidly develop new products for new markets. The problem i

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to say a few words to the members of this committee. Joy and I represent the private sector here today in your discussion. I have to say that I have a bit of a—

International Trade committee  That's right. I heard that and I hope we can get into a discussion about that. I have a bit of a vested interest in the global markets action plan as a member of the advisory council advising the minister. I do think it's a good plan. I think the minister and officials in the d

Natural Resources committee  Well, I think the bus company in Quebec—