I'll begin with the space council. I'm still waiting to see how it functions and what it does. I wasn't privy to the earlier conversations. My understanding is that a lot of it is focused on having one place to have a conversation in Canada, because space cuts across so many different ministerial responsibilities and departments. I think that's valuable; we need that visibility. We need to think whole of government on space, as this conversation is showing.
On nuclear and no one wins, I would absolutely agree. I'm not sure how realistic the nuclear threat will be, or if it will be one of those deterrent capabilities in the background the way we see on earth. However, the threat is always there.
I want to point out that Canada has a lot of military co-operation with the United States in space. We're one of a handful of countries that are part of CSpOC, the Combined Space Operations Center, with the United States. We are also a participant in Operation Olympic Defender, which is specifically focused on this question of defence of objects and satellites in outer space.
I think maybe we've shifted over the years toward closer military co-operation on space issues than we used to. Again, I think being part of these conversations is important, because it gives Canada a voice and leverage. We have to exercise that voice and lead with our capabilities and actions in the multiple different fora where these conversations are happening.
I think NATO is an important place to be talking about this. Because of the current geopolitical climate in which we find ourselves, that grouping of states is influential. I'm not sure it matters who's leading the deterrence study. It's more of a political thing. However, NATO has declared outer space a military domain. That has raised a lot of questions, so this is about what they mean.