National Defence committee  In my view, if we work with the Americans, I would find it surprising if we were not called on to contribute in one way or another, whether on a technical and financial level or in terms of staffing, the same way we do with NORAD. Clearly, the relationship would be asymmetrical, given the dominant American presence.

National Defence committee  It is funny that you are asking me this question because I wrote many speeches for Mr. Martin, when I was with the Department of Foreign Affairs and when Canada released its international policy statement. That debate was quite difficult. Honestly, I think there was a political dimension.

National Defence committee  I have not, personally. We will try to give you an answer later. I know that studies have been done, in particular the one by Philippe Lagassé. In terms of determining whether the assessment he did is realistic, I think we should ask the people with more expertise in the area.

National Defence committee  The Patriot system—

National Defence committee  I remember when we wanted to board Spanish vessels that were fishing illegally off the coast of Newfoundland. At the time, I said to myself that if we had had an armed coast guard, perhaps we could have been able to manage the situation more effectively.

National Defence committee  I think that Canadians will always reply that they want sovereignty to be assured in the north.

National Defence committee  Let me just give you a clear example of that. Lavrov and Kerry are still talking daily when it comes to negotiations on Iran because there is no choice but to have it. In fact it's absolutely essential because what has happened, sadly, in Crimea and in Ukraine generally, could have thwarted that kind of negotiation, which is essential for world peace.

National Defence committee  To me, the answer is very simple. If you have some missile coming above our territory, the Americans won't ask our permission to bring it down, and that will be an aggression against our sovereignty, but at the same time it might save us and save the Americans by doing so. To me, it's a very simple answer.

National Defence committee  I would find it horrifyingly offensive to not be sharing with the Americans something that they would be doing anyway. There you are just a pawn. If you exercise your sovereignty by saying we'll do it together, then you feel you are a participant and the free lunch will come anyway, as you said, with the Alaska base, but it will also involve us sharing the decision the way we do with NORAD.

National Defence committee  It's interesting because in last year's edition of the Strategic Outlook, we had proffered the idea of a mixed fleet, emphasizing on the one hand interoperability, and on the other emphasizing that since we would not be able to afford as many F-35s, assuming it would be F-35s, that maybe we would be better served by having a mixed fleet.

National Defence committee  I'll just add to that. You realize that what Putin is doing is in a region of undefined geography of his vision of a Eurasian continent, the third pole as he wants it to be. Whilst in the Arctic other than the delimitation of the continental shelf and planting a little flag at the bottom of the sea and all of that, in fact there is no contest.

National Defence committee  —he can send a few bears—

National Defence committee  I'll just speak on the perception, because I think George knows far more about the reserves, and we've made some very specific recommendations. I talk to a lot of analysts from abroad, and they're perplexed. They're perplexed that a country of our size, a country of our importance and a country of our geography, is not a country that really does produce that kind of document.

National Defence committee  First of all, with regard to this foreign policy document, I've served in Russia, so I know Russia and I still speak the language. It only underscored what I had always thought, even when I was there. I can tell you that with regard to what happened in Crimea, I actually wrote—and it must have been classified at the time—that it was going to happen, but Yeltsin didn't do it, and he was very heavily criticized.

National Defence committee  That is the first recommendation we listed. It is our first fundamental recommendation. It reiterates what we previously said last year.