Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to connect a couple of dots. You can tell me if my connection is wrong.
It has been the observation of many—and I'm referring specifically to the Ukraine crisis of a few months ago—that whatever Vladimir Putin said, he did the opposite. For instance, when he said that the tanks and personnel carriers were heading east, away from the Ukraine, they were actually going the other way. When he said that he was telling the terrorists to desist, they were actually increasing in severity their actions within the Ukraine.
In this last hour and three-quarters, I think there was some mention of Mr. Putin saying this: “Over decades, step by step, Russia has built up, strengthened its positions in the Arctic, [and] our goal is not only to regain them, but also to qualitatively strengthen them.” I wonder if you could comment. Did he mean it? Are they serious? How do we know they're doing that? Have they actually done something with their infrastructure? What policies should Canada be taking?
Quite frankly, when you were mentioning why the United States wouldn't really take us seriously with ballistic missile defence and they're going to do it on their own, I think it's because Americans tend to be a little on the xenophobic side when it comes to their defence. They're very introspective. The average Canadian knows more about the U.S., so we carry on and on.
So I'm not so much worried about that. The U.S. will never ever allow anything to happen to Canada, because we're their buffer to the north. We are their friends. When they're down and out, they can usually count on us—rarely can they not— because it's in our mutual interests. We share the same kinds of freedoms, rights, and all those other things.
My connection of the dots, quite frankly, is that Russia is something we should be worried about. Mr. Putin has intentions. Russia wants to build that buffer in eastern Europe, and if they can leverage the Arctic to get what they really want—and that's sort of the old Russian empire, as it was—they will. To understand that, all you have to do is realize where Mr. Putin comes from—the KGB. Can you connect some dots or would you be more likely to disconnect those dots when it comes to the defence of North America?