International Trade committee  I'd like to add to that. It has improved our productive ability, but it has also helped us improve the footprint we leave behind us. We are farmers. We are concerned about the future as well as about today. We need to be viable today, but we want to leave our ground in a better s

International Trade committee  Absolutely. You have an opportunity today, in the very near future, to do a larger agreement than by doing separate bilaterals. That's very significant and a very unique opportunity. We're 90% to 95% export-driven with our products. In comparison with other nations, Canada is a s

International Trade committee  That's why we belong to organizations, so that we can empower the organization's staff to do the diligence every day to help us lobby effectively. That's a meaningful part of it. We will also inform ourselves in many ways, whether it's through Twitter or knowledgeable expertise t

International Trade committee  Being so far from port, competitiveness and the cost of freight are certainly critical issues for us. We certainly are not interested in producing more for less. We see valuable opportunities, and we need the ability to get our product to market position, cost competitively. Yes,

International Trade committee  There's a 15% tariff on oil moving into Japan. As that gets phased out over a period of time—the shorter the better and we're already disadvantaged vis-à-vis Australia on this front—it means we have an opportunity to export oil instead of canola, so those jobs are here at home an

International Trade committee  I thought a number of us spoke about Vietnam and the opportunities in Vietnam behind Japan as well.

International Trade committee  India is a challenging market, Mr. Chair. I didn't know India was part of the TPP question, but—

International Trade committee  India also has a rising middle class, so it is an important future potential customer in a more significant way. There are logistical and transportation challenges there and labelling issues that make it more challenging than other markets in developing logistical, traditional tr

International Trade committee  I think there's an advantage to going first rather than lagging and being second. The U.S. is further ahead than Canada in working on a bilateral agreement with Japan, and I think any additional pressure we can apply to push them along towards ratification would be an effective s

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. On behalf of the Saskatchewan canola farmers, I'd like to thank you for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on International Trade. For canola farmers it's simple. We are excited about the opportunities that the Trans-Pacific Partnership