First and foremost, Canada is a trading nation, and we depend on foreign trade. So to have open sea lanes is absolutely essential, first. Our territorial governance over the sea is important, and we have a vast expanse there; people are coming and fishing in our waters, polluting our waters. It's really essential that we have a presence and an ability to intercept. So I'd say these are first and foremost.
Second, given the ever-present threat of terrorism, our airspace also needs to be protected.
I would start with that. We are sharing a common border with the United States and we have a defence arrangement with the U.S., and our threat on the land base is not quite as severe.
But as I mentioned a moment ago, we will want to have a military presence in the north, if for nothing else, to ensure or to defend or to assert our sovereignty. I think to do so, those measures will be the essence of it.
The last point is that we need to have a force in being across Canada to be able to respond to natural disasters. I would answer your question by a rhetorical question to you: how are we going to respond tomorrow if there were a catastrophe, say, in B.C., when we have no forces deployed in that particular province? That's a concern to me.