International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  The aim of the Pacific Alliance is deeper integration so they can act more like one entity. The degree to which they end up acting like one consolidated entity or a closer alliance remains to be seen, but the ambition is to act more like one entity. To assess what we would get,

International Trade committee  Just briefly, as I said, it's a trade-policy plus agreement because it also aims at facilitating movement of persons and migratory transit for tourism, business, and cooperation between immigration and consular authorities, and it promotes cooperation mechanisms in areas such as

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Holder. It's an analogy I've used myself in trying to describe where we are with the PA. We're at the exploratory stage. We've been gathering information about the evolving nature of the Pacific Alliance and the accession process for membership—so both in terms of

International Trade committee  As a civil servant, I will always talk about not having enough resources, but resources are what they are. DFAIT has the resources it needs to deliver on its mandate. There are a number of us engaged on the Pacific Alliance, both inside and outside the trade policy bureau, as w

International Trade committee  Again, that's a qualitative answer that's difficult for me. We're always feeling stretched. I've been in DFAIT for over 20 years, and we're always feeling stretched and we always deliver. We work hard, we work too hard, but we deliver.

International Trade committee  Before I pass this to Mr. MacKay for a more detailed answer, the Pacific Alliance is about two things. It's about reaching out to the Pacific region, but it's also about deeper integration amongst the members to enhance trade and cooperation amongst them—which isn't focused solel

International Trade committee  Thank you. I will shorten it slightly, Chair.

International Trade committee  What are the Pacific Alliance's objectives? The ambitions of its members go well beyond lowering barriers to trade. They're also collaborating to promote trade and attract investment, with a focus on Asian markets. They have taken necessary steps to integrate their stock markets

International Trade committee  That is both a qualitative and quantitative question. We can get you the number of our experts in our trade policy bureau and revert to the committee with that.

International Trade committee  I would prefer to revert to the committee with the exact numbers of the experts in our trade policy bureau.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, sir. The other witnesses with me from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade are Martial Pagé, director general of the North America policy bureau; Neil Reeder, director general of the Latin America and the Caribbean bureau; and Cameron Ma

International Trade committee  It is a pleasure for me to be here today and to speak to you about the Pacific Alliance. The Pacific Alliance is a dynamic group of Latin American countries that together represent the ninth-largest economy in the world. It is in Canada's interests to pursue an enhanced relations

Foreign Affairs committee  We've seen it in past conflicts, and I think that Mali, in a way, is a high-water mark for the African unit for ECOWAS. Asserting that African leadership is very important. They are closer to the terrain and better able to marry up military effort with the political efforts neede

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, they are.