International Trade committee  No. We are in the process of looking [Technical difficulty—Editor] and we are trying to balance—

International Trade committee  We are in the process of looking into that. We are trying to see what our options are.

International Trade committee  We are trying to reach out to the various departments, but the chain of communication is a bit challenging. No one in the government seems to be taking the lead on what the repercussions are or how the government can help Canadian companies.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely. Most of the projects we carry out span two to three years. The projects we are working on today were approved after 2014, in or around 2018 or 2019.

International Trade committee  Yes, we were aware.

International Trade committee  As I mentioned, STAS is an international company. We do business in more than 40 countries. The sanctions against Russia affected us immediately. This is the second time that STAS has been affected by a sanctions regime. The first time was in 2018, when sanctions targeted the big boss of Rusal, Oleg Deripaska, a known oligarch.

International Trade committee  Yes, sorry. I'm back. Multilateral sanctions have a very big impact. We have to abide by the Canadian, American and European sanctions. Not only does that make it incredibly complex for us to do business, but it also drives up the costs associated with compliance.

International Trade committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Savard‑Tremblay. Yes, market diversification is necessary. We are always on the lookout for opportunities. I would say that, today, STAS has an international presence in the aluminum market. We need to grow and strengthen our commercial presence in all of those markets and diversify into new technologies and products.

International Trade committee  No, none whatsoever. The Canadian government is taking the position that Russia accounts for a very minor portion of Canada's international trade. I agree with that, but the repercussions are very serious for some companies and the government needs to support them.

International Trade committee  We absolutely have. We are in daily contact with Export Development Canada, or EDC, about its insurance program. Unfortunately, for political reasons, EDC stopped ensuring losses in Russia in 2014, so that was no longer an option for us. It's important for the committee to understand that our presence in the Russian market is not the result of risk mismanagement; it's the result of Russia being the only available market during the public health crisis.

International Trade committee  The global shipping companies have also stopped shipping and handling containers headed for or leaving Russia.

International Trade committee  That's correct. I think those forms of compensation could be especially helpful to our business in terms of getting us through this crisis. Like the members of the committee, we fully support the government's efforts to address the situation in Ukraine, but the repercussions for businesses like ours should be taken into account as well.

International Trade committee  The sanctions against the banking system have had severe consequences on our business. A client couldn't pay us for services that had already been rendered in Ukraine. Just like that, we couldn't get paid.

International Trade committee  Thank you for your question. Like you, I completely agree that sanctions against Russia were necessary. At the same time, though, I want to draw your attention to the following analogy: when the Canadian government signs a free trade agreement, it provides compensation to help Canadian businesses adjust to the changes.

International Trade committee  Mr. Martel, STAS is a global company. As I said, we do business on five continents and we serve a global market. The current situation can be attributed to the COVID‑19 health crisis, which shut down all markets. Russia is the only one of our markets that continued to operate during the critical period of the last two years.