Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), for information related to the minister’s trip to the UAE, Qatar, and India, members may refer to these documents: a news release entitled “Minister Champagne wraps up first visit to Middle East and India to advance economic partnerships”, found at https://www.canada.ca/en/ global-affairs/news/2017/03/ minister_champagnewrapsupfirstvisittomiddleeastandindiatoadvance.html, and “Minister Champagne to travel to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and India”, found at https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/ news/ 2017/02/ minister_champagnetotraveltounitedarabemiratesqatarandindia.html.
With regard to (b), the members of the delegation were Mr. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade; Mr. Julian Ovens, chief of staff to the Minister of International Trade; Ms. Chantal Gagnon, press attaché to the Minister of International Trade; Mr. Frédéric Huot-Bolduc, visits officer--office of protocol, Global Affairs Canada; and Ms. Maria Lo, deputy director for trade, Maghreb and regional trade division, Global Affairs Canada, for the UAE and Qatar portions.
With regard to (c), departmental officials were selected to ensure coordinated support during the minister’s official travel abroad.
With regard to (d) and (e), no agreements were signed during the visit to the UAE, Qatar, and India.
With regard (f), the preparation of an accurate and comprehensive summary of expenses for the Minister of International Trade’s trip to the UAE, Qatar, and India in early March 2017 was a significant undertaking requiring consultation with Canadian missions and the receipt of invoices from multiple contractors and companies. Related invoices and claims are currently being processed, and attempting to address this inquiry within the allotted time frame could lead to the disclosure of incomplete or misleading information.