Foreign Affairs committee  The choice of the projects is done somewhat randomly, but it is never done without the support of the government. We are very concerned by the situation in numerous countries. However, the work that we do is in the field of public administration. Consequently, we have a better understanding of the way in which governments operate.

Foreign Affairs committee  I have received many requests, but I always tell my staff, who obviously have a tremendous interest in these projects, that we must be careful. We also have budgetary constraints and other obligations. In my view, we can, through less formal means, for example by calling upon people who have retired and other types of resources as a country, accomplish a lot more, in a less formal way.

Foreign Affairs committee  I am not asking for more authority, a broader mandate, or more money for the Public Service Commission. Thank you for letting me clarify that. What we do at the Public Service Commission is really on a very small scale. What I'm faced with, given the interest and demand—and this came really to the forefront with Mongolia—is how we do this as a country and as a public service.

Foreign Affairs committee  Ten years ago, I believe.

Foreign Affairs committee  Only the project with Ukraine. That is the only one that benefits from support and funding from CIDA. In the case of the project with China, it is financed by the Public Service Commission. In the case of Mongolia, it is now the PSC that is in charge. It can therefore not be very broad.

Foreign Affairs committee  With regard to relations with China, it is very important to define the areas in which we share mutual interests. The public service of China is obviously different from ours. In this system, the public service does not have the same relationship with the political apparatus. It is a completely different system.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, we do not have a project with Afghanistan at the present time. I had the visit of representatives from the Afghan government. They were asking me to help them. However, I do not have the necessary resources. In order to be able to do something in Afghanistan, the public service must have a broader strategy than the simple intervention of a single organization.

Foreign Affairs committee  No.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, I have never had discussions with anyone from the Sudan.

Foreign Affairs committee  CIDA is required to do an evaluation of its projects. In the case of Ukraine, it is a CIDA project. An evaluation must be done in order to obtain the renewal of the funding. I believe that the people responsible for the project in Ukraine are going to be coming next week. They will be able to provide you with more information regarding the project.

Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Foreign Affairs committee  First, I think the real value of connections is that you establish them where senior Canadian officials have ongoing connections with other senior officials, who can be presidents. Now, with respect to the budget, my comment had been that it is rather ad hoc. So in my organization I have about 1.5 people committed to international work.

Foreign Affairs committee  It depends. We involve provinces, depending on what the interests are. The Chinese, obviously, are very interested in what happens in provinces and the relationships between provinces and the federal government. So I do work with my colleagues in the provinces.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, and that's really my wish. I think there is an opportunity without getting a big bureaucracy—because I don't think that really helps, as it takes up a lot of resources—to do something less ad hoc, because there is a lot demand and I think a lot can be accomplished.

Foreign Affairs committee  The way it has worked and the practice that we have developed is that I get lots of requests. I have many visitors who come here and there are lots of invitations. So I check with Foreign Affairs and ask, “Do you think this is a good idea?” When I had the request to sign an MOU with the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China, I went to Foreign Affairs and asked, “Is this a good idea?”