Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
First of all, let me say how honoured I am to be joining this very important committee. It's a great pleasure for me to be here with colleagues who are interested in international affairs.
As far as sanctions are concerned, a recurring theme in the testimonies was the need for more guidance and transparency to help companies navigate the sanctions regime. Obviously, there's no question of enlarging the size of government, since we're in a period of fiscal restraint. So we have to be creative.
Canada isn't alone. It imposes sanctions with allies. Can you think of a coordinated approach to sanctions? For example, we could explore pooling our resources to impose coordinated sanctions, which would make them easier to enforce, or we could enter into multilateral agreements.
I'm going to ask you my second question right away. Given that these sanctions have a major impact on the financial sector, is it possible for experts in this sector to work with the government? Is it also possible to approach networks of professionals such as accountants, lawyers and bankers, and pool our resources? It's not true that we're going to create 1,000 new positions to offer everything that people are asking for. We can't afford to do that, because we have to be fiscally prudent.
I'd like to hear from Mr. Martin, then Dr. Charron and Ms. Marineau.