Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the aisle has made a very good argument for reasons we should divide the department. He started off by saying that approximately 240 former diplomats were opposed to this. There are thousands and thousands of current and retired diplomats. With any change there will always be a small minority that dissents with a new vision, especially with bureaucracies, or as sometimes we encounter here in Ottawa, entrenched bureaucracies. That is not what should guide us.
We should be the ones who provide the vision, not the departments or the bureaucrats. I heard from across the aisle that over the past 10 years about 60% of the work of the department has entailed work around international trade. It is very important as we articulate Canada's values around the world that these be values of democracy and civil society, and that there be absolutely no hint that trade will in some way influence these Canadian values and beliefs in democracy and civil society and the efforts of our diplomats in that regard.
We have seen over the past 10 years what a great importance and an increasing importance international trade has in our lives. As international trade develops and takes on a greater and greater role, is there not a danger if these two departments were together that it would take over the role of foreign affairs?