Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to come back to Mr. Reilly-King and his recently completed analysis of the budget cuts.
You state from that analysis that it is extremely difficult to assess what exactly the criteria were for making this decision.
The analysis also mentions that Colombia, Peru, Indonesia, and Bangladesh have become important trading partners for Canada in recent years. To that list we can add Ukraine and Honduras, which recently concluded FTA negotiations in August 2011.
Some might see it as mere coincidence that more and more of our aid and development dollars are going to countries where we have increased economic interests. What are your thoughts on this change in direction? Is it the right direction we are taking in all of this?