Mr. Speaker, the member has not answered the question, which is: What is the overall strategy of this government when it comes to representations abroad?
I am talking about closing missions. When we had a $42.5 billion deficit, some were closed. But now we have 4 closed and 19 more on the chopping block.
The parliamentary secretary talks about the Japanese ambassador. The former ambassador of Japan to Canada, Ambassador Numata, said:
But I'm afraid that the closure of these offices will not really be helpful...I keep going back to this point about perception. It sends the wrong signal. I'm sure it's not the intent of the Canadian government, but in this world you have to be concerned about perception.
So, clearly, maybe the government does not care about perception. Maybe it does not care about whether our business people compete with the Americans, the Australians and others. But the reality is, if we are going to close, and the minister was asked a point blank question, “What is the strategy, the overall policy, going to be?” The answer is--