Mr. Winter, I read the statements that were made not long ago before the committee in Ottawa by the people from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. They told us — and tell me if you agree with me that this is a relatively weak strategy — that our missions in Europe, on the advice and counsel of Ottawa, in particular of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, adopted an approach that was proactive at times and reactive at others, depending on the circumstances.
Starting in early 2005, to support the missions in their efforts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade organized training and information sessions for Canadian staff and locally engaged employees responsible for providing information.
They said they had maintained consistent virtual contact with a network of missions to ensure that standard messages were transmitted across Europe.
When I heard that — and I'd like to have your opinion on this — I thought it lacked substance and action. If we always react, we run the risk of always working on their terms.
This is a war of images. In addition to the image of the whitecoat that's still used and that causes a lot of emotion, they use the words “baby seals”. We don't talk about baby cows, baby deer and so on, but they use the expression “baby seal” and the image of the whitecoat.