Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for appearing today.
I'm picking up where we left off. From what I understand, Mr. Morton and Mr. Johnson, the importance of your presence there was to depoliticize what's become a very heavily politicized issue. Particularly if you're in the room here today, you can feel that this can be a very politicized issue with a lot of rhetoric around it. Many would read in the newspaper about Canada's obstructionism at Bali, and about the minister being absent, not present. We've heard the NGOs testify saying that this was it, even though they weren't involved in a very direct way.
Your presence there sort of depoliticizes. What I'm hearing today is very different from what was reported as hearsay by some of the other folks who were around Bali but not really involved in the manner that you were. So your presence here today is very important.
Mr. Johnson, you said you went to one of the side events, including Mr. Dion's. Mr. Dion, the Liberal leader, the leader of the official opposition, was in Bali publicly criticizing the government as being obstructionist. We've already heard you say that you didn't think that was a fair criticism. Was it helpful to have the leader of the official opposition criticizing a government there? Was it counterproductive? What kind of a dynamic did that introduce to your efforts alongside the minister's to move this issue forward in a productive way?