Regrettably, you've highlighted precisely the problem when maritime surveillance was moved to NORAD. I think the case was over-stressed to no good effect by certain members in the Canadian navy and elsewhere who said, surveillance is fine, but the movement of Canadian ships for sovereignty purposes, Coast Guard vessels, and fisheries enforcement is too clearly a national responsibility for us to share with the Americans.
That might have been appropriate 20 years ago as a decision. I'm increasingly concerned that with the state of potential for conflict up there, and the need for perhaps a massive response to a huge oil spill, we're going to need far better coordination on that control function with the Americans. There certainly have been hints from them on the possibility of dividing...of doing NORAD regions in the north.
The Americans, based in Alaska, would be the coordinator of the western region of the north for both response and control; and Canada the eastern half. It's a great proposal that at least deserves mature study.