Thank you for the question.
First of all, as it relates to negotiations on trade, one of the great benefits we have is that I am the ambassador, and we also have chief negotiator Janice Charette working in tandem with me, of course, under the direction of Minister LeBlanc.
Obviously the negotiations on trade and helping to support them is an important part of my role, but it's not my entire role. My role includes supporting Canadian interests in the United States and supporting Canadians in relation to the United States writ large.
To the second part of the question, a big part of that is building relationships with stakeholders across the United States. In my first 67 days, I have primarily been in Washington, D.C., meeting members of Congress, senior members of the U.S. administration and executive branch and both Canadian and U.S. leaders from the business and labour communities and various industry associations, etc., in order to both tell the Canadian story of the importance of the relationship more clearly, and receive feedback and information from them.
Although I have been to Houston, I will be going to New York and I'll be going to Colorado in the coming weeks, but in my early days, the focus has been inside the so-called Beltway.
Going forward, however, my focus as ambassador—importantly, in conjunction with parliamentarians and with the support of our 12 consulates across the U.S.—is to tell the Canadian story regionally as well. The United States is a big country. We must engage with business leaders, legislators, community leaders and labour across the country. That will be a big part of my job in my first year in the role.