Government Operations committee  There is always a balance between the aspects that are important for Canada and having access to all the markets. I agree with Ms. Lojk that Canada must be present at the table and be heard. What's most important is being at the table, but sometimes we aren't there.

Government Operations committee  Just to add one more point, that process required the Standards Council—and they did it—to go out and have direct engagement with all the different sectors of Canada, to pull in their thoughts, opinions, and ideas. I want to say that this was not just a bunch of bureaucrats sitti

Government Operations committee  Can I just ask for a point of clarification? Do you mean the people who participate in the system, such as the businesses and all the participants?

Government Operations committee  No, it's fine.

Government Operations committee  I'll let Begonia answer in a second, but the answer is absolutely yes. I think it is important to maintain effective relations, and it's very important to continually re-engineer your process and your services. To do that, you really need to understand the market—I mean the broad

Government Operations committee  For example, at CGSB we do surveys internally as part of our process, but we are only a very small player. I am not sure anybody is actually doing it—and I am going to turn to Begonia—but I would say certainly it could, as a very positive thing, be coordinated with the standards

Government Operations committee  I'm going to give a very short answer, I promise. Then I'll turn it over—

Government Operations committee  It's a great question. CGSB has a very small participation. There are maybe 25 or 30 committees we actually participate in. We participate in Canada, and very rarely do we actually interface with ISO at the international level. But we feed into that, so that's a part of it. I

Government Operations committee  I can't answer the question, but I did try to find out what the impact of CETA is going to be. Of course, as you start to open up your markets, clearly there's going to have to be some process for mutual recognition and reciprocity, or else you may establish a deal, but without m

Government Operations committee  I guess what you're asking me is whether ISO will be the dominant standards in terms of that relationship. I honestly don't know, but I would suggest that the European Union uses them. It's almost automatic that when an ISO standard comes out... I'll let Begonia answer it from

Government Operations committee  Yes. I believe last year, 2014-15, the total net cost was $900,000.

Government Operations committee  We did. We charge a fee for some of our programs, so that produced a revenue stream of $2.1 million.

Government Operations committee  Small businesses can be part of the process, but as all these organizations go forward, because there is a balance of businesses and consumers, standards often produce a baseline for purchasing. So, for example, when a group such as Public Works references a CGSB standard, it doe

Government Operations committee  A small business may define specific technical components or give intelligence in terms of a best practice for the production of a product or a service that is very beneficial to a small business just starting out. It gives them content in terms of their business and an understan

Government Operations committee  I want to make sure I understand. When you talk about third party, you're not talking about us as a standards development organization, are you?