Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, I want to thank all of you for having invited me this morning. I am happy to be joined by Ms. Alexandra Bugailiskis, Assistant Deputy Ministe

Foreign Affairs committee  I never made any condition to the Prime Minister. You don't ask anything to a Prime Minister. You listen to what he wants you to do, and you—

Foreign Affairs committee  I never did it, never. I never ask for anything in politics.

Foreign Affairs committee  The Prime Minister told me—and he said the same thing publicly—that under the new circumstances in which we are and in which Europe is, he felt the need to strengthen our ability to address these challenges through a new diplomatic resource, and he asked me to be that. That's rea

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm aware that discussions happen, some positive, or a different view from the one you expressed. I'm accustomed to that. Since I am in the public service, I've already been around some very lively discussions about me and what I am doing for my country. I'm convinced that what t

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Kent, I know that you want CETA. I want CETA. We'll work together to be sure that it will work well for our economy and our people and our relationship with Europe. Mr. Pettigrew is doing that. I will do it as well. The Minister of Trade, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the

Foreign Affairs committee  Since it was the Prime Minister's idea, I think it's good to stick to his own words. His words have not changed over the months; it's always the same thing. If I may quote him from last January, he said, “Mr. Dion will play a central role in advancing Canada's interests...ensurin

Foreign Affairs committee  It is true that we are perceived this way. In many corners of the world, they see Canada as a country of tolerance and openness. I think it's because of our history, which has been very difficult, with a lot of dark pages, but at the end of the day, we had to invent other models

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. I think when we go to a country, let's say Germany, they had to accept almost one million people, without any filter, over one year. Imagine that in Canada. When our Prime Minister said we'd welcome 25,000 refugees from Syria, Canadians knew it would not be 250,000. They kne

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. Precisely because we are one of the few developed countries that has the ability to handle our immigration policy, we are an inspiration for many countries that are not surrounded by oceans and a big buffer, which is the richest country in the world, south of our border. We

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, indeed.

Foreign Affairs committee  I am the Prime Minister's special envoy to the European Union and Europe.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  That is correct.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. He does an excellent job, and so this will make mine easier. The excellence of our current diplomatic team on site, including in Germany, where there is a very strong mission at this time, will be of great assistance to me. The number two person in Germany—since the ambassad