Foreign Affairs committee  Well, as you said, immigration is outside the realm of what I'm responsible for. In terms of perception, I think the Prime Minister made it very clear in his press conference that threats to the United States are threats to Canada. So if anybody has any perceptions that somehow there's a difference vis-à-vis security concerns in Canada and the United States, I would hope that the remarks of the Prime Minister would clear those up.

Foreign Affairs committee  Again, it's an area that's a bit outside of my responsibilities. But I can say, because this has been said publicly by a number of Canadian ministers, that they believe there is, as you say, a need for other NATO partners to step up to the plate. There will be a NATO summit in early April, and I am quite sure that this subject will be on the agenda for the leaders at that NATO summit.

Foreign Affairs committee  The percentage of Canadian trade—

Foreign Affairs committee  It's 74%, approximately.

Foreign Affairs committee  On a number of occasions, the President has said that he is against protectionism and that the “buy American“ program was going to comply with the standards of international law. It is something that we must look closely at. So far, the President has been clear: he is against protectionism in the United States.

Foreign Affairs committee  With regard to your first question about whether there are any other concerns, we're watching the implementation of the stimulus package very closely to ensure that should there be any concerns, we get a chance to address them head-on. This is something we're following very closely, because the devil will be in the details of implementation.

Foreign Affairs committee  I did not hear Mr. Hampson's remarks. So it is a little difficult to say whether I agree or not. But I can tell you that the border is one of the issues that the federal government is very concerned about. We think that there has to be a balance between questions of security and questions of trade, as the Prime Minister said during Mr.

Foreign Affairs committee  We haven't seen it, so I would be interested. As I said, we have been focused for months now on engaging with the new administration and Congress. If there are people who think we're not doing a good job, they should talk to us about where we're falling down. It is our number one priority.

Foreign Affairs committee  I report to both deputies and both ministers.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, it does.

Foreign Affairs committee  We're integrated. In my position as assistant deputy minister for North America, I'm responsible for both the general political relationship and the commercial relationship with the United States.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think I can answer all of your question, but I can tell you what we're doing in the United States. As I think I said in my statement, we have a network of 22 missions, plus the embassy, in the U.S. Some of them are consulates general, some are consulates, and some are trade offices.

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade we reach out to the provinces all the time. I'm new in this position, so I will be continuing a tradition of my predecessor in holding regular conference calls with the provinces and territories. My first one is next week.

Foreign Affairs committee  Deborah reminds me, of course, that we also have a part of the department that focuses on investment and is very involved in investment retention in Canada.

Foreign Affairs committee  It connects at all levels, from the deputy down to the officer in charge of a particular issue.