What I would say is this. In those cases where we have an ambassador who has been able to do foreign policy and bilateral relations--and we've had a few of them--I think our impact has been stronger than in those cases where all we're trying to do is deal with bilateral issues. It's important for the ambassador to be able to see the assistant secretary of state for the Middle East; or Assistant Secretary of State Holbrooke on Afghanistan; or Dennis Ross on Iran; or maybe most important of all, Senator Mitchell on the Middle East. You don't get access to those people unless it's done at a very senior level.
My judgment is that you need somebody who is sufficiently familiar with the issues that he can have that policy discussion in which he explains what Canada is doing, makes some requests about cooperation, or in which he makes some warning. That's what you need the ambassador to be doing. That's as well as going to see a senator about Buy America, which is important. I'm not diminishing its importance; it's very important. But I think if you're only playing on one side of that equation, you're diminishing your effectiveness.