Sorry, Minister Ng. I really don't have much time, unfortunately. I don't mean to be disrespectful by interrupting you. I just want to ask my questions.
Do you know how many Canadian mining companies there are solely in Mexico, one of our largest economic partners?
I can tell you. There are 200 Canadian mining companies in Mexico alone. When I look at this quickly, what stands out is that there aren't many people for such a large number of companies. Right now, given the number of Canadian companies abroad, the ombudsperson's reach really isn't broad enough. We can see that the ombudsperson doesn't have any coercive power, which was promised a few years ago.
Let's say that I'm a person who lives in an area where a Canadian mining company operates a mine. If I'm tired of seeing protesters being beaten up by the police, or if I want to complain about the only source of water being polluted, how do I go about contacting the ombudsperson?