Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be pleased to share my time with my colleague Cheryl Gallant.
I'd like to welcome Minister MacKay, the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Minister to the National Defence Committee. Thank you for being available on such short notice.
Minister, first I'm going to talk about the first points you mentioned in your address today. You talked about reinforcing Canadian sovereignty and about our international influence. You were consistent with the actions of our government, both in the 2006-2007 budget and today, when you stated in the estimates the amounts allocated to those commitments.
Unfortunately, our predecessors did not necessarily see the importance of ensuring that our Canadian troops had the necessary equipment or of guaranteeing Canada's sovereignty over its territory. I'm from Lévis. On July 1, 1909, Canada's greatest navigator, Captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, claimed sovereignty over the Canadian Arctic archipelago on behalf of Canada. That will make 100 years in a few years.
My question is for the minister. What measures is National Defence taking to guarantee our sovereignty in the Canadian Arctic archipelago in terms of personnel, new equipment and strategic directives?