Okay, thank you. I know it was a long question. I'll try to ask you a shorter one, but I have a number of questions for you.
I'd now like to talk about partisan appointments, Madam Minister. During the study, we heard from a number of witnesses who expressed concern about what might be called partisan appointments within Canada's foreign representations, sometimes qualifying their remarks by explaining the need for trusted appointments for very specific and strategic positions.
More recently, The Hill Times reported that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ranked third among Canadian prime ministers who appointed the most former cabinet ministers, surpassed only by prime ministers Chrétien and Trudeau Sr. We recently learned that the Prime Minister had offered his former minister of justice a position in Spain, Marc Garneau turned down a position in France, Stéphane Dion is used for everything imaginable, Bob Rae is at the UN and John McCallum was in China before he resigned. Former Liberal MPs are regularly assigned to be representatives.
Your document explains the following: “Global Affairs Canada needs to promote and reward creativity, achievement and initiative, and create a culture that encourages intelligent risk‑taking.”
So what strategy do you follow when appointing people from the political world?