Mr. Chairman, I believe that the ability to advise the government is something that any ambassador for Canada should be capable of doing. In my opinion, it is essential to detect opportunities for Canada within the United Nations context and advise the government of the possible outcome of any given approach. That is a given.
As to the ability to negotiate, well, that comes with the territory. Canada has a sterling reputation within the United Nations. Why? Because we have invested our energy, our ideas, our money and our people in common pursuits. And that, in turn, earns us a great deal of respect within the United Nations.
The Sudan file is extremely difficult and very complex. I see no immediate solution to this problem. Trying to convince the Sudanese government to cooperate represents an enormous challenge. The approach that has been taken so far, namely, to work closely with our African partners, the African Union, seems to be the right one. But we are not on the ground over there. This is an issue that I will be reviewing with my colleagues at Foreign Affairs. I know that it is both important yet extremely difficult. We can't simply wave a magic wand and hope to solve this problem.