This question of public education on Arctic issues is huge. It's something our organization deals with every day. One of our main priorities is to improve Canadians' understanding of the Arctic.
The situation is a little more positive. Based on our public opinion data, we found that Canadians really do see the Arctic as an integral part of the Canadian politic. We wanted to see if there was a strong difference between how people in the north and in the more southern latitudes viewed the priorities facing their country and their region. What we found was that Canadians, by and large, want for their more northern fellow Canadians what they want for themselves, which is good access to health care and education. The levels of affinity toward the Arctic are very high. Now is the time to put in place the curriculum and the public education about what's going on to match that interest.
The interest is keen. At a cocktail party, when people ask what you do, and you say, “Arctic policy”, they say, “Wow!” Then they hone in on you for the rest of the evening. It's taking that interest, that affinity toward the true north strong and free, and putting in the backup information.