Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In 2007, the UN said that all but one natural disaster was climate-related in terms of assistance, so research is absolutely critical in the north. We have an international project on Devon Island that has been very successful. It's often called the lifeline of Arctic science. What we're seeing now is that it's difficult for researchers to get there because of the increased cost of transportation. In fact, it has increased as much as $2,500 an hour. It's eating into the program of the $6.3 million annual budget, which has not been increased since 2003. Obviously, a polar program giving us science is absolutely critical, but the fact is that here seems to be a disconnect between Natural Resources Canada and Indian Affairs. Indian Affairs is now actually putting about $85 million into Arctic research infrastructure, while Natural Resources Canada has gone the other way. In fact, from a logistics standpoint, they are really underfunded. I'd like your comments on that.
By the way, I'm delighted to see that Environment Canada and Natural Resources actually seem to be on the same page, or generally so. Until a few years ago, this was not the case.