There are a number of questions there. I'm going to deal with some that I think are directly legal, and also with the lexicon that we're all using.
I think it's incumbent upon us, as public officials who work for departments and as members of Parliament, to use the lexicon that is to the advantage of Canada. I heard the word “claims” used quite often, with respect to territory of Canada. I would suggest that that would not be a good thing to do. We don't claim that which we own. We own the land and we own the water. I would hope that we, as officials, can talk about that as our own territory.
The other thing is that we're not claiming sovereignty; we're exercising sovereignty. Every time we do what we do in the north, we're exercising Canadian sovereignty. I think it's dangerous to play into the lexicon of those who would suggest we're not.
As to the stunt of the flag on the seabed: that's exactly what it was. The Russian person in control of that flag issue is a known stuntman. They did it. That's true. When the flag landed down there, they would have probably found a bunch of material that says “Made in Canada” on it as well.
The reality is that flags do not indicate sovereignty, otherwise the Americans would own the moon and National Geographic would own the Himalayas. I would suggest we be careful with how we go down that route.