I would have to agree with what both my colleagues have stated.
One thing that I would like to emphasize to the committee is that it's not just about communicating and having Canadians learn about the Arctic. It's also about making sure that those who live and work every day in the Arctic are aware of the important and national processes that are going on. When you look at the work coming out of the Arctic Council, it's often fabulous scientific assessments, but my degree is in political science. I have a master's degree and I can't get through some of these thick volumes, so you can only imagine people sitting in a hamlet office who are trying to digest these huge processes.
I think one thing Canada can easily do is commit to making plain language summaries of the work coming out of the chairmanship so that people can follow along with the work the council is doing.
Another barrier to Canadians knowing about the north is coming into contact with their fellow Canadians. The cost of air travel is a major impediment. That is the number one expense that I find in our business, trying to have northern Canadians engage directly in these discussions themselves. The cost of travel is a huge impediment to that.