Evidence of meeting #14 for National Defence in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was arctic.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Coordination and Strategic Issues Branch, Department of Natural Resources
You're talking about the UNCLOS, the extension of the territories?
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
I'm not talking about the Northwest Passage, I'm talking about the disputed areas.
Director General, Coordination and Strategic Issues Branch, Department of Natural Resources
If you go to the north of the 200 nautical miles, as we talked about earlier, we haven't yet done those evaluations of the resource potential to be able to answer those questions. We know that possibly, in terms of the geology, there might be some resources there. What it is, the quantity, we don't know. You can always extrapolate, but in terms of real data, we don't know.
Within the 200 nautical miles...everybody is aware of the Beaufort dispute with the U.S. That's still there. It has been there for many years and it will probably be there for a while. I'm not the one dealing with it, but we know there is some oil and gas potential right there.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
But not uranium and thorium specifically, that you know of?
Director General, Coordination and Strategic Issues Branch, Department of Natural Resources
Conservative
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the witnesses.
We've talked about monitoring what's going on up there and about being able to see and report things. Can any of you--perhaps, Mr. Bancroft, you'd be the one to answer, but I'm not sure--tell us the value of RADARSAT-2 in the future in terms of monitoring activity, specifically in shipping and that sort of thing?
Director, Canadian Ice Service, Department of the Environment
The use of RADARSAT-2 to monitor shipping would be a question best passed to the Department of National Defence, but I can speak to the collaboration that we have with the Department of National Defence.
If I'm using RADARSAT-2 in a particular mode to look for sea ice or oil pollution, it's optimized for that. The Department of National Defence perhaps would like to see it optimized to look for ships. So we collaborate to ensure that we come up with ways of programming RADARSAT-2 to do a fairly good job on both. Consequently, we do see ships.
I'll say this about RADARSAT-2: it's very good.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Okay. So in a lot of your time sharing, you've developed protocols with DND to time-share the satellite and so on?
Director, Canadian Ice Service, Department of the Environment
Yes. It's a change in culture, because with RADARSAT-1, we sort of had it all to ourselves, and now we're learning how to share the sandbox.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
You mentioned the leading role that Canada is playing in several areas in terms of developing international conventions and so on. How are we seen by the other players involved? Generally speaking, are we playing a leading role? How is that perceived?
Director, Canadian Ice Service, Department of the Environment
How do I answer that? I look at the Montreal Protocol and things like that and I'm proud to be a Canadian. But that's a personal feeling, and I'm not speaking on behalf of the department.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
In terms of the interaction with the other nationalities you're dealing with--and this is not just for the Department of the Environment, but also for NRCan--obviously both of your departments are dealing with other nationalities on the issues that affect you. Madam Carpentier, how are the relationships going? I guess the ones I'd be most concerned about are the Russians.
Director General, Coordination and Strategic Issues Branch, Department of Natural Resources
They're really good. We have agreements with the Danes. We do some joint collection of data. If we have the same data, we should probably interpret it the same way, so that we have the chance to come to the same conclusion. We have a similar type of agreement with the U.S. when it's an area that we both share.
With the Russians, we meet with them at a working level, really. We don't exchange data, but we talk a little about the way they collect data and the way we collect data, so it's more at that level. But if you go back to the Ilulissat Declaration, they said they would abide by the rules of the game of the international treaty, as we did too. At that level, they always are straightforward and say they will follow the rules and the international agreements. I cannot talk about the political level or any of that, but at the working level, I see no evidence that they are not following those.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Climate change is happening with us or without us. Where does Canada stand in terms of leadership--or not--in terms of developing adaptive technologies? How are we doing that in conjunction with our allies?
Research Manager, Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Division, Department of Natural Resources
Certainly in the north, Canada is definitely a leader in terms of developing technologies for adaptation and actual implementation. For example, the idea of using thermal siphons to artificially cool permafrost and keep it in place for contaminant facilities for a northern mining facility is world leading-edge technology. There are also the technologies we have for enhancing ice roads so that they in fact last much longer than they would if we relied upon natural approaches. As well, there are some technologies we have for northern infrastructure.
There is good collaboration and sharing across the circumpolar north in terms of these technologies, and without having a rigorous scientific assessment, I would certainly say that Canada is definitely a leader and a big player in that issue.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Maxime Bernier
Thank you, Mr. Hawn.
I want to thank our witnesses: Monsieur Lemmen, Madam Carpentier, and Monsieur Bancroft.
The clerk and I have noted the fact that you will send committee members the various documents which you were asked to provide during this meeting. We look forward to receiving them and we'll distribute them to committee members.
Thank you very much for having been here today. I will now adjourn the 14th meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence. Thank you.
The meeting is adjourned.