It's a complex question.
First let me say that I don't see our sovereignty really at risk in terms of territory. No one has tried to steal Canadian territory, so the question is not there. It's much more, first, a question of symbols, and symbols are much cheaper than actual real defence. If we can just send ships and patrol from time to time, it certainly helps.
The real challenge is that the Canadian government must perform governmental activities in this region. The more people we have there, the more you need to enforce the law to make sure people are safe, and to make sure you are in control of what's happening there. So to keep the capability we have, we have to develop the infrastructure, because it's empty. These four million square kilometres are empty, in terms of infrastructure. We have to continue the pace.
What I don't want to see is what we did in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, when we completely neglected that region, and now we have to recreate an expertise in that region. So my advice is to at least keep what we have, and that's why in my presentation I asked you as a committee to make sure the government will keep its promise on the Arctic.