Finance committee  Yes, we have. That's a matter of record.

Finance committee  I've often said that I don't know of many industries that have less control over their destiny than the trucking industry, so I'll leave the election comment to that.

Finance committee  In terms of the budget measures, clearly, trucking being a drive-demand industry, anything that is going to enhance economic output will ultimately benefit trucking. We haul other people's goods. That said, however, specifically the accelerated capital cost allowance for manufacturing has done nothing directly to address the fact that in our industry it takes twice as long to write off a truck in Canada as it does in the United States, for example.

Finance committee  With regard to a lot of the enviroTruck initiatives that we're talking about, it isn't just about buying big new trucks. It's about buying the tires, aerodynamic fairings, auxiliary power units, and all of those things that help improve fuel efficiency and reduce GHG. A lot of those are manufactured in Canada.

Finance committee  In the 1980s, when the federal government created the goods and services tax, we introduced a value-added tax with regard to business input. We approached this committee at that time to say, “Look, this is a significant tax on our most significant business input. It was introduced simply to raise revenue to reduce the deficit at the time.

Finance committee  I am wrapping up, sir. Furthermore, in the 2008 federal budget, capital consumption allowances for purchases of new, less polluting railway locomotives were accelerated. Why just one mode of freight transport was provided with this incentive has never been adequately explained.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. On behalf of the 4,500 members of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, I'm happy to present to you again this year. As in previous years, I just wish to remind you that trucking is a significant leading indicator of economic activity in the country.

International Trade committee  Precisely.

International Trade committee  I would just add that when you walk into the Canadian embassy next week or the week after, you're going to see a map of North America with all of that data in terms of how much we buy from the U.S. by individual product. It's excellent. They do a great job on that.

International Trade committee  I'd like you to go with a detailed plan, but that's obviously not going to happen right away. I think the one point I would like you to make with Washington, to emphasize to them that the way the border was supposed to work was supposed to be on a risk assessment basis, keeping in mind that 99.9% of the people, goods, companies, truck drivers that move across the border are safe and secure and pose no threat.

International Trade committee  First, let me say that one of the issues we have faced as an industry since 9/11 has been the proliferation of cards. If you want another quotable quote, what I used to say when I'd come before this committee, or whatnot, is that we're all going to need George Costanza's wallet—if you remember his filing system to keep all of these cards in.

International Trade committee  I think you're off to a very good start. You've given it a name and a purpose, which is something that people can grab onto. I think there's plenty of brain power there, within the private sector and within the public sector, but it's important to get those people who live the border every day, from either perspective, to come up with the list of practical measures that can be undertaken to make the best of what is already a bad situation.

International Trade committee  That process worked very well and it was the only time it was ever used. We were given the mandate as a trade community to improve throughput at Windsor by 25%. Now, initially there was a lot of toing and froing about metrics--how we count it and all that mumbo-jumbo--but at the end of the day, whatever we did, whether it was, I don't know, 22%, or 23.5%, or 26%, it worked.

International Trade committee  I think you referred to some comments I made with respect to perimeter clearance. First, let me say that were we able to reach that point, obviously we would support it. I think, though, we need to better define as Canadians what we mean by perimeter clearance. Over the years lots of people have said to me that they have it in Europe and it works there.

International Trade committee  Which one do you want to answer first?