Thank you, Mr. Chair, for that very important question and for the important contribution that Canada has brought to the Philippines in terms of our food security.
Food security is a very big priority. When Minister MacAulay was in Manila, I had the privilege of being in Manila at the same time.
There was a personal side to the story. One NGO in the Philippines buys granola seed potato seeds from P.E.I., brings them to the Philippines and distributes it to at least five indigenous communities in the Philippines. Through that seed, the productivity of the potato farmers in those five areas has almost doubled. On the occasion of Minister MacAulay's visit, about eight or ten of the farmers made the six-hour drive from their mountain communities to present Minister MacAulay with their harvest.
Having witnessed that, it was a very touching reminder of the assistance that Canada has provided and how working together.... The potential of the bilateral relations to improve lives of people on the ground is very important to us. Working together and leveraging the bilateral relations, we can translate that to a better future for many people.
That, to my mind, is a golden moment for Philippine-Canada relations.