Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would also like to thank the witnesses for being here today, to inform our deliberations on the modernization of Canadian diplomacy.
I am among those who think that a confident government devotes more resources to supporting parliamentary diplomacy, public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. Indeed, these different forms of diplomacy strengthen traditional diplomacy. Conversely, an apprehensive government will tend to see parliamentary diplomacy, public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy as potential threats and will cut back on the resources allocated to them.
As I was listening to Mr. Théberge, I was rather impressed by everything that the Société nationale de l'Acadie had been able to accomplish without any support from a public diplomacy program. Would the Société nationale de l'Acadie be able to do a lot more if it were to receive funding to support Canadian diplomacy? In other words, what would be the benefits for Canada if it were to invest in fields like public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy?