Certainly my experience is that Foreign Affairs pays more lip service than dedication to the issue. I've been in embassies and consulates throughout western Europe. As a matter fact, I've even been in some in the Middle East, and believe it or not, it comes up out there. I wrote an editorial in 7Days, which is a Dubai magazine, after a four-page spread on Canadian sealing--in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The Canadian embassy in Abu Dhabi did not say one word. The Canadian consulate in Dubai did not reply one word.
Unfortunately--and again, this is just my personal experience--my feeling is very strongly that the individuals involved, as good as they may be, simply don't understand the issue or don't want to understand the issue. They respond according to the pamphlets that are sent out through DFO with about as much passion and sincerity as the average lemming. That doesn't wash with the media in Europe; it doesn't wash with the general public in Europe. Meetings behind the scenes are very good things, but unless we deal with the general public in Europe, we're finished.