That leads precisely into the second point I wanted to raise. We have heard from many stakeholders. They spoke to us about the important role that the Arctic Council plays. And yet we have hardly spoken about funding. Ms. Grant alluded to it. But she only briefly spoke about it.
All the stakeholders we have heard from have spoken about the importance of the Arctic Council, but they did not speak about funding. For example, Ms. French just indicated that a lack of resources is preventing organizations representing aboriginal people to be heard, and that includes travel to the Arctic.
I would like Ms. Grant and Ms. French to expand on that.
The organization is underfunded. It is therefore vulnerable to any political battles between governments. If it were a little more independent, in other words if it were funded independently, then that might improve cooperation.