Foreign Affairs committee  That isn't actually under the purview of consular services. It falls under humanitarian assistance and disaster response, but we are part of an integrated task force format, so we work together to share information. What we've found is that the kind of information you need for a

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think I have with me the exact percentage of Canadians who register vis-à-vis the ones that travel. We'll have to look at that and get back to you in writing with the statistics on that figure.

Foreign Affairs committee  Up until now, we rely on the voluntary nature of Canadians to let us know where they are travelling. It's their choice, and some Canadians prefer not to inform us of where they are. We accept that. We work with the numbers and the information we have and we still try to use all t

Foreign Affairs committee  Our role today is to speak to the policy as it exists and how we're implementing it on the ground. We're not really in a position to speak to the question of future legislation.

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned, we have very elaborate emergency operations response procedures and centres. We've learned lessons from previous incidents, and that's why we have things like the 24-7 watch centre and the standing emergency response teams of highly trained consular officers who c

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. This is definitely part of our process and something that we take seriously, because it is the best way, actually, of making sure Canadians aren't in harm's way. Our travel advisory program is monitored and updated on a 24-7 basis, and they're in direct contact with those ag

Foreign Affairs committee  Our advisory systems are designed to inform all Canadians, and they are used by the industry as well to look at areas of risk. They are also tracking these storms carefully. We can advise but we don't control what choices people make. One of the issues with storms of this natur

Foreign Affairs committee  I won't speak about particular cases, but I will say that these complex cases that last for many years are so difficult for families. They're very difficult for those who are here and anxious about the well-being of their family members. They're difficult for the caseworkers, as

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. That is the case.

Foreign Affairs committee  In our day-to-day allocation of the crown prerogative, in consular services we use all the options at our disposal to try to assist Canadians in the way that is going to be most beneficial to them. I don't see that the legislation of that would result in our making additional eff

Foreign Affairs committee  It's difficult for me to speculate on that. It's a bit hypothetical. I can assure you that we look at every case and try to find every possible avenue to assist Canadians. I don't feel that we need additional legal authority to provide additional services. I believe we're doing t

Foreign Affairs committee  Not that I'm aware of.

Foreign Affairs committee  Not in my experience.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd just add that in the case of emergency response operations to mass consular events, we have a very elaborate network of dozens of government departments that we are working with to ensure we are able to bring Canadians home as quickly as we can.

Foreign Affairs committee  We're always looking at ways to improve what we do and we seek feedback directly for that purpose. Our ability to reach out to Canadians through different tools and means is something we've been working on in terms of the digitization of our tools and our efforts to reach out,