Mr. Chris Collenette:

I thank the Senator for the question. First, we are a business association, an association of businesses. Yes, our interest is to ratify CETA, and what is on the table is ratification of CETA with the ICS. Nobody is proposing that it be ratified without it, or at least not now. I wish to note that I am here and that this is a voluntary organisation with a voluntary director. A number of times when we have surveyed all our members, not just those the Senator mentioned, CETA ratification has come up. That is the case for all our members, including those that employ the approximately 25,000 Irish people here. I should note that the Canada Pension Plan, CPP, the Canadian Government pension plan, made up of Canadian individuals owns the majority of the Corrib gas field, if I am correct, and Vermilion is an operator. I also note that the operation employs approximately 400 people, supporting families in the member's constituency of Mayo. Is that correct? I believe that is the employment level of Vermilion in Mayo.

I cannot get into the specifics of the case with regard to Vermilion and the French Government other than to say I do not know it. However, I presume that it felt that it had a case to take and it did so. That could be done as part of an ICS or it could be done in French courts as well. I again note that the ICBA is a business association. We represent businesses doing business between the two countries, including many SMEs and many Irish businesses. We cannot specifically say that we only want to ratify CETA because of the ICS or because of the composition of some members of our advisory board.