Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here, Minister.
I have to say at the outset that I was rather disappointed with your remarks. You had 10 minutes of remarks for your first time before committee, and almost eight minutes of it used “the middle class and those working hard to join it”. You used that line twice. You recited the list of names of all members of cabinet, and it was only in the last two minutes that we actually got into international development. So I'd ask you to take that back for your next appearance. We'd like to see a robust discussion of the issues under your portfolio.
The Rohingya have come up both from Mr. Saini and in discussion. The plight of the Rohingya was first advanced by then-ambassador Bennett in 2014 and 2015 when he travelled to Myanmar. He was the ambassador for religious freedoms, an office your government cancelled and replaced with the Office of Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion. The budget was tripled, but we've heard nothing from that office. Can you give an example of when you partnered with that office on a development issue around the world?