Foreign Affairs committee  That's excellent. To change themes a bit, could we talk about security and stability and what you would argue is the role or opportunity for what we would have called peacekeeping, but peacekeeping in a modern context toward the promotion of democratic structures?

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, but do we need more peacekeeping? In many of those countries that are facing those kinds of challenges, is it more difficult to build institutions when there is insecurity and instability as a foundational element?

Foreign Affairs committee  It would appear from the outside that what we were doing in the late 1980s and 1990s was significantly greater as a world than what we're doing today.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the incredible and powerful testimony from both of you. It's highly complex with a lot of moving pieces. It feels as though the erosion is increasing exponentially, and it's not limited to them. It's also within our own democracies. Can you help us to un

Foreign Affairs committee  I was thinking around social media and the undermining from other great powers within our own democracy while perhaps we're not either keeping up or paying attention to be able to address it. I didn't necessarily mean from within our own structures, and yet those same instruments

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's very fair, but I'm sorry, I don't have much time. Of course, we understand the challenges. That's why we have experts like you to deal with those challenges. We need to be able to tell Canadian society that we're doing the right thing but that our investments, our effort

Foreign Affairs committee  Is there any relationship to peacekeeping operations and the role of setting the foundation for you to be able to go in and do that work? I don't like the term “peacekeeping”, because of course it's a little bit archaic and presumes that's there peace and war, but have you notice

Foreign Affairs committee  So, in your mind, you would argue that those two do need to go together. Stability and security are precursors to the ability to work in that democratic space.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for being here today. This is certainly an important topic, and it's somewhat disconcerting. You're saying, if I understand you correctly, that democracy is in retreat. We continue to invest and our investment hasn't drastically changed over the last 12 ye

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd like to build on what my honourable colleague has just presented. There is no question that this is serious, and there's no question that there may be information that the ambassador can give us. We are totally in agreement with having a portion of the meeting in camera. How

Foreign Affairs committee  But I'm asking you overall. I'm saying “on balance”. The international community has contributed billions of dollars since the 1970s. On balance, are we making progress, by whatever criteria you want to use to define overall on-balance progress or betterness?

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I am, because I'm a politician, and I'll jump to the conclusion. I'm a politician who has heard wise advice and counsel say that we need a major rethink. Therefore, if I'm looking at a major rethink, I have to go to the Canadian taxpayer and say,“This is why your tax dollars

Foreign Affairs committee  But it's pragmatic, and we cannot address a problem if we're not willing to define, evaluate and quantify it. Jay, could I ask you for your perspective?

Foreign Affairs committee  I have very little time left, but I'm going to be a little bit inflammatory for the sake of impact or insight. Why should we continue to invest, and who's doing the major rethink to ensure that those investments are successful?