Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), diplomatic mission budgets are subject to constant fluctuations due to evolving operational requirements. Budget increases and decreases occur regularly in-year and from one year to the next for a variety of reasons including position creation and deletions, currency fluctuations, adjustments to previous year's anomalies in reference level, incremental positions to support growth of representation from other government departments, among others.
In response to (b), since 2006, 26 diplomatic missions have experienced a decrease in personnel.
Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
Alma Ata (Kazakhstan)
Athens (Greece)
Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei)
Bangkok (Thailand)
Brasilia (Brazil)
Bratislava (Slovakia)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Colombo (Sri Lanka)
Conakry (Guinea)
Denver (Usa)
Dusseldorf (Germany)
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Lisbon (Portugal)
Lusaka (Zambia)
New Delhi (India)
Oslo (Norway)
Prague (Czech Republic)
San Jose (Costa Rica)
Seoul/Pusan (Korea)
Tallinn (Estonia)
Tehran (Iran)
Tunis (Tunisia)
Vatican Vienna -- Embassy (Austria)
Warsaw (Poland)
In response to (c), since 2006, 11 diplomatic missions have been closed, namely: Phnom Penh (2009); Hamburg (2009); Tucson (2009); Cape Town (2009); Sarajevo (2009); Lilongwe (2009); Milan (2007); St. Petersburg (2007); Fukuoka (2007); Osaka (2007); and Libreville (2006).
In response to (d), there are currently 318 diplomatic missions abroad. These include: Embassies; High Commissions; Embassy/High Commission of Canada Program Offices; Offices of the Embassy / High Commission; Representative Offices -- Multilateral or Permanent; Consulates General; Consulates; Consular Agencies; and Honorary Consulates.