Mr. Chairman, as you know, in the past we had the closing of four consulates, and the minister came to committee and addressed the issue. I know at one time the comment was made that this was going to be it. Now we have up to 19 on the block.
At the same time, I understand—and I would support the government if they were going to open up additional consulates in China.... But it would contradict the notion that somehow they were being closed for economic reasons, if in fact they're going to open up additional ones somewhere else.
So I just want to find out what the strategy is, whether there are in fact even more, as I understand, that may be contemplated at some future date, and what this means in terms of our presence abroad—the impact it will have in dealing with countries.
Obviously, we have already heard from the Latvian ambassador with regard to the impact on the Baltic states. We're looking at the Balkans as well, and Cambodia, with which Canada has had a longstanding relationship, particularly through CIDA.
Inviting the minister—and the minister, I will say to his credit, did come the last time—is purely to get information with regard to this, and I put it out in that spirit, Mr. Chairman.