National Defence committee  The one challenge we have with Russia and civil society is that when we talk about the Arctic we've seen very definitive steps by Putin to limit civil society. The one act we all are aware of is that Putin moved very strongly against their indigenous organization, RAIPON, delisting them in November of 2012.

National Defence committee  Well, the two examples that you give have to be enforced differently. For a vessel going through the Northwest Passage and not following Canadian laws and that would be, of course, through the NORDREG system and the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, we would have to go through the courts to address that particular issue.

National Defence committee  All of the above.... I don't believe that you draw distinction. There's often, do you do it coast guard or do you do it navy? As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to the Arctic paint them all pink and call them whole of government because you need that.

National Defence committee  Yes and no. It's a typical academic answer. There's been a lot of good work that people have been able to continue to develop at the lower levels. The work to develop the business council is something I think Canadians will rightly look back on and be very proud of, and it has Russian participation.

National Defence committee  I would agree the land forces are more of a lesser importance. What the Russians are doing in terms of their land capabilities, that's more the constabulatory that I've talked about. We need to be watching what they do in terms of their sea-based and their aero-based.... What that means for us is we definitely need to be doing more in our surveillance capability.

National Defence committee  Northern watch actually goes through...in terms of the procedure. We need to have an airframe replacement of the CF-18s when they basically end their productive life. So we need surveillance and we need a reaction capability from an aerospace perspective. RADARSAT Constellation and these types of systems that have been well in place have to be maintained and they have to be expanded.

National Defence committee  I'll start with that one. My immediate response to you is the Finns would have a different perspective about the Russians never attacking in the north. The winter war is a bit different, but the challenge we are facing is that regardless of where the Russian economy is today...and there is a lot of suspicion that the Saudis are unloading as a punishment, or as a means of supporting American foreign policy, against the Russians.

National Defence committee  Given how important oil is to Russia, if you can oversupply at this point in time this sends a very subtle message to the Russians that we may not be bringing formal sanctions against them, but if they continue with their aggressive actions in the Ukraine, they can expect to see oil prices collapse.

National Defence committee  I think we're collateral damage in that context; look at the pipelines. The issue is that the Russians are being put into a situation that regardless of the free flow of where it goes they need to respond. They need in their view to respond to NATO moving closer to their borders.

National Defence committee  That's an excellent question. The relationship between the Chinese and the Russians is increasingly complicated. The Russians, under the current environment, see the Chinese as their major source of resources. They're trying to sell their resources to China and we're seeing that in a series of announcements that have been made.

National Defence committee  We need to have NORAD take seriously its commitment to the naval side that was made back in 2006. The issue is how do we do it? How do we have the sensors? The challenge we face with NORAD now is that—given the ongoing American economic crisis that they face combined with their political inability to move forward—we are going to have to pay a lot more than the traditional 10% or so that we have paid on to NORAD.

National Defence committee  The impact would be quite dramatic. The rule of thumb for the navy is for every three vessels that it has it can have one at sea. You can surge, there is that capability, but when you are talking about reducing back from eight to having about three, it means you're going to be able to, at any given time, have one vessel available.

National Defence committee  Absolutely. There are two drivers, and this is what's going to bedevil Canadian defence planners, because you are going to have to have the types of capabilities that Dr. Lackenbauer has talked about. You will need constabulary capabilities to deal with the inevitable ship issues that arise, maybe a grounding, a sinking...these are areas that have little infrastructure, little capability.

National Defence committee  We're already seeing where the future is going. The Russians and the Chinese have stopped an international effort to create what's called marine protected areas in Antarctica to preserve the fish stock there. Canada and the United States are the only two countries that have imposed...and said there is an issue, to step back and understand what is happening with the fisheries.

National Defence committee  There are two factors. There's the impact that it's having on human security. In other words, we are seeing a transformation for the livelihood of everyone who lives in the Arctic, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, the likes, I would contend, that we have not seen before. A way of life is undergoing a complete and utter transformation, also being brought on by other factors of globalization.