Canada-China Relations committee  It's not so much ineffectiveness. My real comment was that over the period I was there—and I have to remind you that this was from 2005 to 2009—it was a different government in China. My experience over that period in time was that headlines didn't resolve issues. Ongoing, consis

Canada-China Relations committee  —public issues that made them, in some cases, more difficult to manage.

Canada-China Relations committee  Those are tough questions. To the first part, I think the way in which they are maintained, the conditions in which they're maintained are very difficult, and there is no question about that. We are given consular access to most Canadians who are detained in China, and we report

Canada-China Relations committee  I was disappointed, of course, though I can't say I was shocked, because if you follow China, you could see increasingly over recent years that the Chinese government was becoming more and more worried about democratic developments in Hong Kong, so I can't say I was shocked, but

Canada-China Relations committee  It's not something I've thought about. I have to be honest with you. It wasn't something that was discussed while I was serving in China, but I would have no reason not to support it. I don't think it's a bad idea. Just for the record, though, so I'm very clear, I have no clien

Canada-China Relations committee  I was in China when Hussein Jalil was detained, and he was detained by the Chinese as a Chinese citizen. In fact, he was travelling on a Canadian passport. As you probably know, we were never given consular access to Mr. Jalil, despite the fact that he is a Canadian citizen. That

Canada-China Relations committee  I agree completely with what John McCallum has said. The locally engaged staff make up a very important part of our embassy as well as our consulates around China. There is a hard line that we draw between access to information, access to important information, that is open to Ca

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, I strongly support working with other liberal democracies, with other western countries, to talk about how we should engage with China and how we might influence the directions that China takes. I still believe there are prospects that China will adjust as it becomes more i

Canada-China Relations committee  Can I continue?

Canada-China Relations committee  I just mentioned the fact that the Trans-Pacific Partnership that we joined a couple of years ago is a good initiative. That means we'll be working with other countries in the region to promote trade and investment. I know from experience, from when I was in China—and I'm sure i

Canada-China Relations committee  It was all after I left.

Canada-China Relations committee  I don't know. I would like to think not. I believed throughout my career that engagement is better than the alternative, so I still believe there's room for Canada to influence the direction China takes. I think we must stay fully engaged in that country and in Hong Kong to try t

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes.

Canada-China Relations committee  There certainly were great expectations for the future of Canada-China trade and advancement—that's correct—and that was an important part of our portfolio. The portfolio of any ambassador is much broader than the economic interests, of course, and we pursued actively human right

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you. I'm not sure what premise Howard may have made, but I certainly see the need these days for the government to reassess the approach to China. I think it's timely. I look forward to seeing what they have to say. As I say, things have changed dramatically from the ti