Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely. There are many examples to choose from. Staying with the agricultural sector, it makes up the vast majority of our exports across north Africa, and, certainly, Algeria, as well. One special thing about how we export is the way we do it, and the relationship we develop.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd say yes. I'd agree with you. In terms of focusing on areas where we can have the greatest impact.... I know “focus” is a word that has come up a number of times. I believe strongly in concentrating on our comparative advantages. Canada has many of them, which opens a lot of doors for us.

Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely. Ben Marc, do you want to take that on—the approach to Africa more generally?

Foreign Affairs committee  May I take that one? I think there's a link that can be made with the previous question as well, and it's less on the diaspora per se, but it's with Africans who have Canadian experience. In terms of what more can be done, I think there's probably some room to help organize alumni groups.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think there could be some interesting work done there.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a good question. It's difficult to predict exactly how it will pan out. I know one thing: It's not necessarily the volume of exchanges. There's a quality dimension there. If we work with those who get the chance to study earnestly, there's still a lot that can be done to capitalize on those exchanges.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I'd say it's probably more often the norm that we work hand in glove with like-minded partners and multilateral organizations that have their own expertise in-house and their own networks, as well. More often than not, we're collectively working and pooling resources and knowledge to maximize the impact of every dollar we invest.

Foreign Affairs committee  Just building off that, then, I think you're also very right that the brand—

Foreign Affairs committee  —is still present and still strong. Sometimes we hear that African partners need Canada. I'm not sure that's any longer the case. Many do want Canada, but there are other options now. We can be a preferred partner because of the quality of our products. Often, the caricature of us being a moral value-based player...that does count.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a good question. Thank you for it. You can take the irony of me responding in English, in view of the late hour. We engage exclusively in French, entirely, with the Algerian government, and you're right, you've touched on a very sensitive point for the Algerians. With their fraught history with the French presence, it's part of their culture.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks for your question. There's a wide range of ways we can and do. There is all kinds of peace-building support that's funded directly by Ottawa for grassroots organizations that are working to bring communities together to address the real divides at the grassroots level. Even offering mediation support, even if it's not frontline mediation—there's track two, track three—but more subtle, less overt efforts often can be instrumental in bringing people together and just enabling conversations that perhaps some of the tier-one mediation efforts would not bring as much attention to.

Foreign Affairs committee  One thing to take note of that surprised me, but has become part of my daily reality, is just how competitive the space is right now. It is competitive in commercial terms. It's competitive in diplomatic terms. It's competitive with some of our adversaries and, for some reason, also with some of our like-minded countries as well on the commercial side.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's true, and it's an important observation that the security situation in the neighbourhood is deteriorating. I think that's an important, objective observation that the trends are negative across the Sahel. They're alarming for us. They're alarming for our Algerian partners with the extent of the border that they maintain with Mali and Niger.