Thank you. Those are a couple of very interesting questions about the Northwest Passage.
If the Northwest Passage becomes an international strait—that is, if the American legal position prevails—what are the consequences in terms of overflights, because it's not only an international strait for ships but also an international strait for the purposes of aircraft?
It just so happens that the Northwest Passage, as a corridor, is not very practical for civilian aviation, and Canada already allows civilian aviation to use our airspace in return for some pretty modest fees.
Ironically, the only consequence I can see is that those Russian bombers might actually do exercises through our Northwest Passage if the Americans succeed with their legal position. There's a terrible irony here, because Russia is the one country that actually explicitly supports Canada's legal position, because they have a waterway on their side of the Arctic Ocean that the Americans also maintain is an international strait and the Russians say, “No way; it's our internal waters.”
In terms of how to enforce sovereignty in the Northwest Passage, the best way, quite frankly, is to provide lots of good reasons for other countries and international shipping companies to accept Canada's jurisdiction. Let's provide world-class search and rescue. Let's provide world-class shipping charts. Let's provide really good icebreaking for commercial vessels. Let's provide port facilities so that if a vessel has a problem with its equipment, it can actually pull into a port and be safe from Arctic storms. Let's develop the Northwest Passage as a commercial waterway subject to Canadian jurisdiction, just like we developed the St. Lawrence Seaway a couple of generations ago to facilitate the use of that waterway under the umbrella of both Canadian and American sovereignty.
That's the true answer. Let's get our Arctic sovereignty by providing carrots rather than waving sticks. You have to have some sticks as well, but this investment in a Northwest Passage, a kind of Arctic gateway, is something that would make a huge difference today.