International Trade committee  I'll be brief. We are very aligned with the American Trucking Associations and we work constantly with them on cross-border issues, including the issues I brought up today, which are processing issues at the border. One of the benefits we have as an industry with regard to going into this process is that we are aligned.

International Trade committee  On that note, maybe I'll turn it over to Lak. He's been up on the screen because he works with the American Trucking Associations. Perhaps, Lak, you could discuss some of the processing questions at the border that we're working on with the American Trucking Associations.

International Trade committee  It's a critical issue. We've been talking a lot about the Americans' approach to this. It's a critical issue for American business. It's more so for them than it is for the trucking industry. The issue is this. I drive down into the United States, and within any state—pick a city—I drop a load.

International Trade committee  Fortunately, for over a decade, the Government of Canada has been a great champion of this issue. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, they have signalled to the United States that we are ready when they are. There's ongoing work right now by Minister Anand under the regulatory co-operation council on this very issue, but if that process is not successful, we're asking if this issue can get attention at the table in 2025 by both governments and under the 2026 review.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, committee members. I'm joined on the screen by Lak Shoan, our director of policy responsible for the files I'm talking about. First off, I'd like to thank the committee for bringing it to our attention, and to the attention of the business sector and labour, that you are preparing for the CUSMA reviews well in advance of them.

International Trade committee  From my perspective, whether it's the newly formed supply chain office or CBSA, it comes down to what priorities in budget spending are put on efficiency and trade issues. Too often things come down to money. That's just life, except that these are all investments. Everyone around this committee table—those from industry and the politicians—say that we are a trading nation.

International Trade committee  During labour disruptions, the CBSA and border delays—which can be spotty at times and flowing at times—become a permanent feature. In short, it ends in a lot of frustration on the part of drivers, companies in the supply chain and added costs for everyone.

International Trade committee  Well, I guess my message would be to find it in the budget. You need to look at sufferance warehouses as an investment. It's hard infrastructure, sort of, because one could spin it as a private-public partnership. Those sufferance warehouses are created with private money and are set up inland to assist in the movement of the supply chain.

International Trade committee  The answer is yes. We have worked both as the Canadian Trucking Alliance and as the Ontario Trucking Association with the Peace Bridge and the authorities there, and that is the goal: this technology. Because in essence, what everyone wants—both the Americans and the Canadians, and the trucking industry and our supply chain partners—is to have a secure border and secure trade, but with technology we can do it better and faster, and that's what this project is all about.

International Trade committee  Thanks for the questions. I'll start with the sufferance warehouses. As I mentioned earlier in my opening comments, in essence, these sufferance warehouses allow the supply chain and the trucking industry that's moving those supply chains to, instead of clearing loads at the border, which sometimes can be very congested....

International Trade committee  The province, under the previous minister of transport, Minister Mulroney, made a number of significant investments in truck rest areas. The rest of the provinces are continuing to keep up with that, but the reality is that we are decades behind across Canada, in all provinces. The reality is that this needs to be corrected.

International Trade committee  As we've said for a number of years, it's probably the most important investment to international trade in decades, the building of the Gordie Howe bridge. In essence, what you have hit on as key is the time savings. Prior to the construction of this bridge, all the trucks literally had to go through the downtown streets of Windsor.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and committee members, for having the Canadian Trucking Alliance here today. Briefly, about the alliance, we have about 5,000 members. The way the alliance works is that the seven major provincial trucking associations form one board and send delegates—very much like the House of Commons—to our board, and we vote and make policy.

Declaration of Emergency committee  We haven't looked at it since probably the spring, so I don't know if it's changed. Based on previous figures, it was significantly lower than it is in Canada. It is reflective.... I guess it all depends on how you define “vaccination”. Is it two or is it three? At the time, it was two vaccinations.

Declaration of Emergency committee  That's correct.