There have been multiple attempts, first and foremost at the political level, to talk to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, going back to 2017. We have sent multiple letters requesting conversations. Only recently—that is, within the last three weeks—have we had a conversation with a minister of foreign affairs on this file. There has been no direction by a minister of foreign affairs to the department to actively work with industry.
That said, we are in contact with the department regularly with regard to this file and have made numerous attempts to have working groups with that department to get clarity on permits, to get clarity on definitions for permits, and to find ways to expedite permits for countries that are not risk areas.
As I think some of the other panellists mentioned, our challenges are not necessarily coming from the willingness of the department itself, but from our ability to have conversations with those at the political level on this particular file.