Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Minister Vandal, I have a Globe and Mail article in front of me from a couple of weeks ago and obviously I won't read the whole thing, but the headline is “Top defence official says China is a threat to Canadian Arctic”. It goes on to talk about China's push for natural resources and that they have been turning their attention to the Northwest Passage for some time.
Minister, we know there is depleting defence infrastructure in the north and that many individuals and organizations have been raising concerns about the Chinese Communist Party for years. Why has there been such little urgency from your government in securing our Arctic sovereignty?