Evidence of meeting #71 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was council.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
But I'm talking about container ships, other ships, anybody that's coming through. You would have to have a bond in place before you can come into our waters.
Professor of Law, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance, Dalhousie University, As an Individual
I think it would be problematic because you have the international conventions. Article 234, what it's focused on is pollution prevention. It doesn't talk about the larger issues of trying to use a bond, for example. I think you'd be in trouble, perhaps, with other countries that might not like the idea. I'm not saying you couldn't try it, but I think there would be difficulties there from a legal—
Professor of Law, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance, Dalhousie University, As an Individual
To make it enforceable.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
My last question is to anybody.
Are we ready for this Arctic Council, to take the chair? It's been alluded.... We are chairing so many other organizations. Are we ready? And what kinds of land mines are we going to hit? Are we going to get wedged on issues that we're not doing our homework on in our own country that they might be holding against us? Are we ready for this?
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, As an Individual
I haven't been directly involved in the process recently. I think the appointment of the chair of Senior Arctic Officials a week or two ago was an important step. I suspect we'll be ready. Over the last few years the transitions were no further behind any of the other countries' when they have assumed the chair. So we're as ready as everyone else has been.
Liberal
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, As an Individual
I think it's important that all countries have now had an opportunity to chair the Arctic Council. This is a chance for the next cycle of chairmanships, with Canada being the first, to define some of these procedural issues and questions about the types of priorities we're going to place on questions that are within the purview of the Arctic Council.
Liberal
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
That being said, we're in a very important time in the history of the Arctic to be a chair, with all the changes and opportunities that are going to be happening.
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, As an Individual
Yes, it's an important time, very important.
Senior Advisor, Climate Change, Polar Programme, GRID-Arendal
I think there are a lot of eyes on Canada. Everybody's been reading the debates, and there are a thousand opinions about what Canada should do. We all have our own opinions too, and our organizations do.
Canada was the first chair of the Arctic Council. It's seen as one of the most important Arctic Council countries in that it was there at the foundation. It has always supported indigenous peoples. I think the bar is pretty high for Canada, and you're quite right, the changes that are happening are coming way faster than can be anticipated. The goal is to be focused and to look at issues from a circumpolar perspective. National policy and Canada's domestic policies are very important, of course. They have to be. But the Arctic Council is not a reflection of those. The Arctic Council is a sum of other parts.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you, Mr. Eyking. Yes, that's it
To our guests here today, our witnesses, thank you very much for the dialogue and the conversation today. I thought that went well. To Anita, out on teleconference in Edmonton, thank you for joining us as well.
Associate Director, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, University of Alberta
Thank you very much.
Conservative