Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Herman, I would like to pick up on the questions put to you by my colleague, Michael Chong.
One of the difficulties we've had so far with sanctions against Ukraine and Belarus is that it's hard for us to get a clear picture of what has been sanctioned, what assets have been frozen and what can be seized. We don't even know if the federal government itself has a clear and accurate understanding. What's clear is that the federal government still doesn't know how to go about seizing assets in a way that would contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. It looks like a total mess.
I think a big part of the problem is that the federal government is literally delegating its responsibility to enforce sanctions to the banking sector and private companies. However, what we learned from the 2017 study and from what you presented to the Senate committee is that companies don't know exactly what they're supposed to do. When they ask Global Affairs Canada, they don't get answers.
In your opinion, does this situation exacerbate uncertainty around the effectiveness of Canadian sanctions?
Why is Global Affairs Canada stubbornly refusing to provide instructions and answer questions when we know that, on the one hand, this seems to have an impact on the effectiveness of the sanctions regime and, on the other hand, as you pointed out in your brief to the Senate committee, many of Canada's allies, including the United States, European Union countries, Australia and the United Kingdom, are providing these kinds of instructions?