Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for being here and for your fine presentations. We very much appreciate the work that has been done by trade commissions, which are so vital and important to the success of Canada and to how we position ourselves internationally.
Allow me to ask some general questions.
There was a great emphasis on the BRIC countries, and I just want to know, to that end, what has been done in terms of the work as of late. Have there been additional trade commissioners in those countries? Have you put more emphasis?
I don't see Russia mentioned here, but Mongolia is, which is not part of the BRIC. Anyway, there are new offices that you said you're opening in China, Brazil, and India. How many offices do we have? What has been the increase in growth?
Also, has there been a decline in the last little while in terms of the number of trade commissioner posts? Have there been any offices closed, or have you just been expanding?