Foreign Affairs committee  That brings me to the contrast now. It was across the country, and 80 or 90 different cities had protests.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say, again, that the jury has to remain out, but the initial impressions are that there were an awful lot of young people, people who have only known Putinism.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, and it should be. Not disturbed in the sense of seeing this as.... This is not the sort of thing that anyone sitting in the Kremlin likes to see, the manifestation that the people are dissatisfied and might seek change. I think it is cause for disquiet. In terms of what it

Foreign Affairs committee  It plays a very important role, and it would be very desirable if it could strengthened in any way. Obviously, because it's an organization that runs on consensus, its work has been made more difficult in the climate of much deeper east-west tensions we've been experiencing for t

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. Well, I wouldn't see.... Those who genuinely and sincerely support President Putin are still very numerous, if polls are to be believed. Their confidence would not be rattled based on that. You're absolutely right in pointing out the symbolism of the fact that it was in hi

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, that's a very good question.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a great question. Very quickly, because I think we're already over our time, when I spoke to the committee before, I might have used what still remains a compelling and fascinating analogy in talking about Russian politics. Certain observers talk about the battle in the m

Foreign Affairs committee  No, sir. That is more important to them than the fact that when they open their fridge, it's not as full as it was around 2007 or 2008 and they don't see the prospect of it filling up any time soon. The wild card now, I would suggest, which everyone who follows Russia will be f

Foreign Affairs committee  I can't really speak specifically to the ways in which individual states might be leveraging the Chinese reality in their relations with Russia or the European Union. That's simply something I haven't been exposed to. In response to your point, I would just acknowledge that as in

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a very good question. It's an absolutely terrible, terrifying episode, and I'm speaking as one who has spent quite a bit of time in St. Petersburg. I know the names of the subway stations well. Sadly, it's not the first such awful attack in Russia. The subway in Moscow ha

Foreign Affairs committee  I assume we're not speaking definitively about the results of the Russian investigation. I guess the initial indication is that this was someone inspired by Daesh, which underscores or affirms part of the Putin narrative about Syria and international politics more broadly. I'm n

Foreign Affairs committee  I would repeat some of the comments I made in response to an earlier question. What Global Affairs can do, and tries to do, we do. Our resources in that region, both on the ground and our capacities here at headquarters, are relatively modest. As you're probably aware, for the fi

Foreign Affairs committee  In the way you pose the question, asking if there is any downside, obviously not, sir. In an ideal world, we could certainly strongly consider upgrading our representation to the point where we would have full-fledged Canadian ambassadors in all three countries. But it is a rea

Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely. Again, we are talking of the medium and longer terms. I'm not up to speed on the very latest concrete developments that might be in train. Certainly, in global terms, the reality is that, as you described it, there is a clear geopolitical desirability for reducing thi