The trade missions that don't work are the ones that say, “Nexen, do you have any deals that you have signed, and can we come and be part of the photo-op?” That's ridiculous. In those cases, we don't need any help. We already have the deal.
What we need is the front-end work, where a company like SNC–Lavalin is going to a country in the Middle East or in Africa for the first time, where there's risk and potential, but no deal is even in the offing. Those are the kinds of places where members of Parliament and the Prime Minister make the difference.
The idea of going and signing a bunch of contracts is the opposite of what business development is all about. If you can go there and sign a deal, believe me it has nothing to do with the trip. Those deals will have been worked on for five and, in some cases, ten years.
The public has every right to be skeptical about photo-op trade missions. This is my view. What trade missions should be is front-end work.