It's an excellent question, sir, and a very broad question.
There are several threats in the international realm right now, or several rapidly developing situations. One is the continuing unrest in several Arab countries and in the Middle East; the other is Russia's aggression in the Ukraine. Each of these is different. I don't know whether I can draw lines between Russia and the Arab Spring phenomenon, but Canada's government has shown a distinct policy intent to demonstrate forward presence using elements of the Canadian Armed Forces.
One of the elements chosen was the Royal Canadian Navy. We have been an active participant in the CTF-150, which is the Combined Task Force 150, in the northern Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Right now, the Royal Canadian Navy has a commodore and 20 Canadians commanding the combined task force, which has ships of France, Britain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the U.S. Coast Guard passing through the command from time to time.
Why are we there? We are there to demonstrate the interest of Canada in those important and strategic waterways that flow through the Strait of Hormuz, where the energy flows of the planet focus. We're there to learn about the Indian Ocean, to help like-minded states and states with a desire to move toward legitimate use of the seas and democratic ideals build capacity in their militaries. We're there to learn relationships among nations and to develop a trust for Canadian Armed Forces in the region.
We do not have a ship there. We've moved our ship from CTF-150 into the Mediterranean Sea to deal with that other adversarial situation with Russia, and to reassure our NATO allies, especially Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey—countries such as those—that NATO stands behind its article 5 statement of collective defence anywhere at any time. Our navy is doing what it can, forward-deployed with like-minded navies of the coalition and CTF-150, or with the NATO alliance.
In the Canadian Arctic, there is no doubt increased activity. It's mainly commercial; it's mainly tourism-related; it's mainly related to changes in the ice regime and climate. However, there are military phenomena in the north, but mainly reserved for my friends in NORAD to deal with. The Royal Canadian Navy continues to go to the Arctic as a full partner with all the other government departments to help in the management of consequences of oil spills, search and rescue, crashed airliners that are using the polar air routes, or even something military that might develop on land. But I wouldn't want to overstate here that there is aggression or a military threat in the Arctic.