Information & Ethics committee  To the best of my understanding, the communications environment remains busy on a daily basis. There are a whole range of issues that the department deals with. It is not as pressed as it was at the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

Information & Ethics committee  My understanding is that they perform all of the duties associated with communications, including message preparation and delivery.

Information & Ethics committee  I would say so. I would take the opportunity to point out that the Department of Global Affairs serves three ministers, so it has a fairly extensive communications department that covers a lot of ground in terms of issues, products and services.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  I would have to say no to that question, to the best of my knowledge.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I do not.

Information & Ethics committee  That is correct.

Information & Ethics committee  As a general rule, deputy ministers would not be privy to these affairs. These are administrative affairs that are undertaken by offices and officers of the department, like my colleague, Monsieur Pilon. In the unusual event some circumstance arose, as a deputy minister, my job

Information & Ethics committee  Well, if you'll allow me, I will respond not as the deputy minister of international trade, but as the former deputy minister of public safety, because I was there then. I would make a couple of points. At the beginning of the pandemic, the atmosphere was quite chaotic. Decision

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon, members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. As the chair said, my name is Rob Stewart and I am joined by my colleague Daniel Pilon. Today, I will give you an overview of Global Affairs Canada's overall role

Information & Ethics committee  That's a very good question, Mr. Barrett. I estimate we have something in the order of a hundred. I would estimate that.

Information & Ethics committee  I do not. I can get that information for you.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, they do.

Information & Ethics committee  I would say that, as a general rule, in most cases it's all except the latter. In this case, what I'm referring to is that the media staff will prepare the presentations or the materials. They'll interact with the media and they'll set the scene. They do not necessarily prep the

Information & Ethics committee  To the best of my knowledge, departmental communications staff work with ministerial communication staff to prepare the minister, and the primary responsibility rests with the minister's staff.