Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Mulroney, for being here and for your work as a public servant, your contributions to the country.
I do want to ask you about the view that many have taken within some media circles, and certainly some opposition members, this idea that a hawkish approach towards China is what is needed. I don't count you in that category, Mr. Mulroney. I think yours is a view that is much more nuanced.
I do want to point your attention to something that you wrote—not recently, actually. It was when Stephen Harper was Prime Minister. This is a piece you put forward in Policy Options in May 2015. You were talking about the challenges of being a middle power and a way forward in terms of Canadian foreign policy.
You wrote the following:
[W]e came to take pride in being among the first to close embassies, cut off dialogue and impose sanctions in the face of clearly unacceptable international behaviour. And while our new-found toughness made us the first to pack up and leave, our relatively small size made us among the last to be welcomed back.
What that says to me is that there are second- and third-order consequences to any decision. If the advice that some have given the federal government—as I said, in media circles and I do hear it from the Conservative opposition—is that a much more hawk-like approach is required vis-à-vis China, how do we prepare for possible consequences? I'm thinking not only of the Canadian economy, but of other consequences too. Do you have any advice on that?
I think of the western provinces, for example. We heard from the Canada West Foundation. You can't see it, but I'm looking at data it has amassed. Trade with the western provinces—it's looking at Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and indeed British Columbia most especially—has dramatically increased over the past 10 years. Economic consequences would certainly follow, I think, from a hawk-like approach, but we do have responsibilities to advocate for Canadian values and Canadian interests.
Do you have any thoughts on the matters I've just raised?