I would argue that the Arctic is as important to us as our response to 9/11. If you recall, the events of 9/11 caused a fundamental reorganization of the cabinet structures and the very way that cabinet itself approached the issues of internal security.
I believe the time has come that we treat the Arctic the same way, because what my research has told me is that we respond to crises. Well, we are past the point of crisis, because the Arctic is transforming.
The only way I see that we can keep the momentum is that, literally at the prime ministerial level, we need to have the commitment that one of the first things he or she gets briefed on in the future is the Arctic. That has to be in a cabinet format and it has to have a bipartisan buy-in. I think the time has come for it, in terms of the institutional structure by which we approach it, and this is the only way we're going to be ready.