Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to our guests, and thank you for coming.
I'm the New Democratic critic for fisheries and oceans.
You've provided some information. You've basically stated that at this point you're collecting data in terms of how it relates to oil exploration. I think that's a fair summary. I have only five minutes, so I'm going to get to what I think the heart of the matter is, some might say the elephant in the room.
I'm hoping you can address the issue that I think is on Canadians' minds regarding the federal government providing a subsidy for big oil to essentially be out collecting data for oil exploration under the guise of climate change research. I believe the program is focused on looking at the Arctic and looking at the impacts of a changing climate in the Arctic, where climate change is happening quite quickly. So you're accessing a vessel that was, I believe, for those purposes, and you can correct me if I'm not representing that accurately.
How do you respond then to the perception people may have that the oil companies are working with the federal government or using Canadian subsidies as well as the Amundsen and some of the research facilities to essentially explore for oil?