Let me state at the outset, Dr. Lunney, that my colleague Minister Strahl has put forward our domestic policy, which is based on a number of pillars--from the environment, to making sure that social responsibility occurs, to governance, to sovereignty, to exercising Canadian sovereignty. That element of exercising Canadian sovereignty falls under somewhat my responsibility, along with other colleagues'.
What we have done over the course of the last two years is to be able to not only increase our presence in the Arctic with the government's intentions through its budget, but as well, in international fora, to clearly express what we are doing in terms of mapping the continental shelf, for instance, or conforming to the International Maritime Organization's general principles for safe shipping as well as protecting the environment.
On the mapping issue, Dr. Lunney, we will be in complete compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We do intend to be able to table the information, the scientific data, by the year 2013. We are working in partnership, sometimes with the Danes, where we have done some mapping particularly on the eastern part of the Arctic, and we are also working with the Americans. The Louis St. Laurent, which is one of our icebreakers, as well as the Healy, which is an American vessel, are working together doing that mapping through sonar techniques. So that is well under way.
I'll end up on this. I'll be hosting in two weeks' time a meeting on the Arctic coastal states so that we can look at what are those issues in common between Canada and the United States, Russia, as well as Denmark and Finland, so we can come together with some set policy that makes sense. This does not, and I want to repeat this, does not undermine, in any way, shape, or form, the Arctic Council, which for Canada, as one of the founding members, is the premier forum for discussion on Arctic matters.