Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here today.
Having been on this committee in one form or another since 2004, I have to admit that I really enjoy your zeal for your post and the energy you put for it. Not every minister I've had before me over those years has seemed to enjoy the file quite the way you do.
With that in mind, and looking at a few things here, one of the things I often note about natural resource issues is that while we think of them in purely economic terms, they are often sovereignty-related. They are issues that define our boundaries, who we are as a country, and how we control our own destiny. One of the issues, and one of the expenditures you brought up in your speaking notes, has to do with funding to prepare for Canada's submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Could you elaborate a little bit on why roughly $1.3 million, under supplementary estimates (B), is being allocated for that? I am aware of other countries, Russia, etc., being engaged in similar sorts of exercises, but I don't think this is for spending for the science; this looks like something a little bit different.
Could you elaborate on why the supplementary (B)s ask for $1.3 million for that?