Foreign Affairs committee  Well, I'm a bit surprised by your first question, because foreign service officers, before they are posted abroad—at least it was that way when I was in charge of that—are fully bilingual, and they can speak—

Foreign Affairs committee  In terms of the local language, that's a problem. I was listening to what David Morrison, the deputy minister, said. He said that only about 30% of the officers speak the local language. Clearly, this is something we have to invest in more. In terms of the work of the committee

Foreign Affairs committee  So far, the information I've received is that it has been very well received. The reason for this is that it's a plan developed with the participation of all relevant departments in Ottawa, and it comes with substantial new money: $2.5 billion over five years. As well, it compe

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. I think, both politically and on the trade side.... Politically, the department is now beefing up its expertise on China. China won't disappear, so there is more attention devoted to trying to understand how the country—especially the Chinese Communist Party—functions. In

Foreign Affairs committee  I think the value added of a diplomat—Louise alluded to this—is the quality of the networks and relationships you develop. This is extremely useful when you want to assess where a country is. I think you have to take a long-term approach. You have to develop this expertise by se

Foreign Affairs committee  Of course, we have to understand that our power is quite limited, but I think that what's important is to try to change China's behaviour. On this, progress has been made, and I welcome the adoption of the Declaration against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. We a

Foreign Affairs committee  I agree with what has been said so far, but I would say that the department does not need a lot of money. We are talking about incremental amounts here. I was a bit discouraged when I read in the National Post that foreign language training has been cut at missions until the end

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. Both approaches are necessary. We have to recognize that there are new topics. For example, about 30 years ago, we didn't have any expertise in the department on terrorism issues. Now terrorism has become a major issue. Artificial intelligence and c

Foreign Affairs committee  In the case of the U.S.A., I would say first that of course we have to watch very closely what's going on there, but again, I think the department and the government have proven in the past that we can mount a very well-coordinated effort involving premiers as well—because there

Foreign Affairs committee  In the case of China, the Indo-Pacific strategy outlines a very good approach. I agree with Mr. Rock. Global health, the environment and biodiversity are good areas where we should focus. Hopefully, there will be movement on both sides of—

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your invitation to testify today. I spent nearly 40 years at Global Affairs Canada, 25 of them abroad. In Ottawa, among other things, I worked for five years in the personnel office, where I was responsib

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. Thank you for inviting me to testify before you today. I will give my presentation in English, but I will be happy to answer your questions in both official languag

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I know that it's difficult on the international scene, but again, as we've heard from Dr. Anderson, there's work that has been started. I was very pleased to see this Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. We have to multiply this type of alliance. It will require a lot of work,

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  New Zealand has never formally stated that it was banning Huawei's involvement in building the infrastructure. However, when New Zealand companies request permission to use Huawei's products, that permission is denied. What that means is that, without ever stating publicly that H

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, actually. Australia passed a law in an effort to eliminate the potential for interference. It has experienced interference in its political system. One of the things it did was ban all foreign donations. It requires anyone working for foreign powers, including former minis