Thank you.
And thank you to both of our guests today. You complement each other. You also reinforce some of the testimony we've already heard.
Mr. McRae, the notion that we need to understand what is at play legally and what isn't is important. We heard that from department officials: don't create a conflict where none exists, and we welcome that.
Mr. Byers, department officials were here at the last meeting. They were talking about the four pillars the department has when it comes to the Arctic and our foreign policy. They are exercising our sovereignty—we've talked about that a bit—promoting economic and social development in the region, protecting the Arctic environment, and improving and devolving northern governance by empowering northerners. That's not hugely controversial.
I want to focus on the issue of climate change. I brought this up in questions to the department officials, and you touched on it. It seems to me there is no controversy anymore about the science of climate change. Even the skeptics recently admitted they were wrong. The evidence is there. The question is, what are we going to do?
When it comes to our agenda for the Arctic Council, which is.... By the way, we should mention this to all our guests. This committee report is to give, if you will, our advice and perhaps instruction, as best we can, to our chair and to the government when we take the chair in May.
Tell me what you think is the best way to advocate for the need to realize that climate change not only has happened, but is also something we are behind on, and how the Arctic Council, working in this multilateral way that you've indicated, can best address climate change in partnership.