International Trade committee  The government is conducting a review of the NTCF, the corridors fund. That review certainly can go a long way to correcting issues, but it has to be, again, part of a move to national planning. These are systemic issues. Unless you engage in a long-term, permanent systemic respo

International Trade committee  Correct. You may solve problems in the short term, but in the longer term, you have not dealt with the systemic issues. You are at a comparative disadvantage against jurisdictions that compete with us and that have done this. Again, you're getting suboptimal outcomes. The eviden

International Trade committee  I have two quick notes. On the port study, it's a really complex undertaking, what S&P and the World Bank have done, and you really need to have an in-depth explanation. The rankings are somewhat nuanced. In terms of the response, interestingly, when Australia first got the

International Trade committee  That work would have to be done in terms of a deeper analysis of the ports. The World Bank and Standard & Poor's study has microdata at the port that you can use to make a judgment in that regard. I would say, though, that the larger issues are systemic. When you look at the

International Trade committee  First, I don't think anyone from the private sector and the analysts would agree that that's enough money. The government has consistently put more money into non-productive assets. Trade infrastructure is how we fund housing, education and health care. Certainly the money that g

International Trade committee  This was the Council of the Federation, so all 13 premiers were involved. Premier Stefanson gave some leadership, but it's a continuing resolution by the council. We have not heard any response from the federal government to the call from the premiers or the call from the privat

International Trade committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to join you from Treaty 7 territory here in Alberta. The Canada West Foundation has worked for 50 years to ensure a strong west in a strong Canada. For the last decade, we have devoted particula

International Trade committee  I don't know if I can say “major.” The larger issue, more so than the U.S., is the incorporation of China. That's longer. The logjam with the U.S. can be broken. China requires structural change, fundamental change and rethinking. Again, the WTO continues to work. You've had cou

International Trade committee  They've made the decision to go to the U.S. market and not to go to other markets, despite our signing trade agreements. I would say that is an exercise of choice. Also, the oil and gas industry and the mining industry are global players. Agricultural equipment manufacturers are

International Trade committee  Okay. I'll try to be quicker. Internal barriers, yes, they hinder us. The internal trade issues in Canada are well known. They hit the GDP. They also affect our ability to make products together in Canada to export abroad. That's something we don't think about with internal tra

International Trade committee  I do. The main question there is the ability to accommodate the Chinese model of economic governance. There's great work out of MIT. I'm blanking on the economist, but it's looking at how the WTO can remain relevant in terms of incorporating China. There's room to be hopeful. I c

International Trade committee  Sure. That's the focus of the two-volume study, which I'm sure you'll be using to go to sleep at night in the near future. Here's one example. We've had an issue with China on beef age restrictions, beef exports, unpredictability over BSE issues and the MRL issues. What the Ame

International Trade committee  About three years ago, I was in Big Timber, Montana, down in the middle of the state, at the bar having dinner. This group of ranchers walked in. This isn't a joke. This is a true story. It sounds like a set-up to a joke. They see the Alberta licence plate out front. They look

International Trade committee  It's what we have. It's the tool that we have, and it is effective at the end of the day.

International Trade committee  That's correct. There are two issues. The WTO process continues to work. You've had cases brought to the WTO where the parties have agreed with the initial decision and haven't advanced it to the appeals stage. I think it was Turkey and.... I can't remember who. There have been