Certainly, on the service standards, I wrote the first set of service standards for the consular function back in 1994, I think, and it's still there. It's had various iterations and this sort of thing. I follow this area fairly closely. I've been retired for 20 years, by the way, and a lot of things have gone on.
One thing I've noticed from following the media is that this is one area where Global Affairs Canada has been doing reasonably well, even in a situation such as Gaza, which is as difficult as one can imagine in terms of helping Canadians in difficulty and given the variety of actors and interests that are involved. My understanding is that we've gotten close to 700 Canadians out of Gaza in the last few weeks. That's not bad. There is a system there.
On the resourcing side, I think the problem you get into is whether or not you need a surge capacity in this area for the exceptional ones that come on. We never had a surge capacity. We would usually pick and choose. The thing to remember about consular services is that Canadians pay directly for this service. It is paid for by the people who buy a Canadian passport.
They spent a $25 fee when it was on a five-year passport. When the government went to a 10-year passport, it did not increase the fee in accordance with roughly $5 a year, which is what we implemented back in 1996. I can tell you that governments over the years have made money out of this consular fee, because the consular services have cost less than the money that was collected through this fee.