Mr. Speaker, the Quebec minister responsible for international relations, Sylvain Simard, recently illustrated how true the old saying about travel broadening the mind is.
Upon returning from a journey in Asia, Simard observed that, in Asia, the business culture relies heavily on governments and that government assistance is necessary to support the economic stakeholders. "Agreements must first be entered into by the various countries for the foreign business community to have access to this market. It is a matter of trust. That is the only way to do business in Asia", he said.
We are happy to see that the Quebec minister responsible for international relations recognizes how important the presence of and role played by Canadian first ministers was in Team Canada's first mission to Asia.
Hopefully, next time, they will be able to convince Lucien Bouchard to come along, in the best interest of all Quebecers.