Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the minister's very thoughtful remarks and I am looking forward to working with her as her parliamentary secretary.
Our government was clear, in the Speech from the Throne, about the need to work on a whole-of-government engagement strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Allow me to share a few facts about why Asia matters for Canada. It is home to 4.3 billion people, or nearly 55% of the world's population. It has a middle class of 2 billion people, with 1.5 billion more expected in the next 10 years. Twenty-one out of 30 of the world's largest cities are in this region. Sixty per cent of global maritime trade comes through the South China Sea. This region is expected to account for over 50% of global GDP by 2040.
While this strategy is taking shape, could the minister update us on what a more meaningful Canadian engagement in Asia could look like, and what component that would imply?