Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. I won't name any specific countries, but you can look at a map and figure out which ones they are. There are many countries that would have challenges similar to those that the Government of Bangladesh has in creating and enforcing the kinds of standards that we as Canadia

Foreign Affairs committee  No interface with government is required if, for example, a Canadian company would like to source ready-made garments in Bangladesh. However, we like to think that the advice we offer in our missions abroad is so useful—and it's also so low cost because it's free—that it's a real

Foreign Affairs committee  It's hard for us to get a detailed statistical sample of what I would call our market share of Canadian companies that speak to us. As my rough estimate, about 40% will speak to us at missions abroad as a matter of routine. The rest tend not to.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not aware specifically of that happening, but it would not surprise me if that were the case, which is why my colleague, Peter MacArthur, and I have mentioned that we strongly encourage Canadian companies to sign up for one of the two standards bodies that the international b

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, we'll follow up on those.

Foreign Affairs committee  Answering a ballpark question like that would be difficult. I'm going to say that we have in the order of 80 missions, just so you can understand my math, and then figure out later where I got the numbers wrong.

Foreign Affairs committee  We can follow up; that's actually a good idea. We have in the order of 80 missions that would be in what I would call challenging countries, where the governments themselves lack the capacity to provide the kind of regulatory infrastructure we wish they would have. In those mis

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and honourable deputies. My focus today is on the Government of Canada's overall effort to support responsible business practice among Canadian firms operating and sourcing abroad. Responsible business practice is embedded in Canadian values.