Both Mr. Adams and Mr. Pelletier talked about the environmental and economic impact. They addressed the environmental impact of increased economic activity, commerce going back and forth through the passage.
Nobody mentioned the Chinese, although they're the biggest exporters of product in the world. Monsieur Pelletier's brief points out that for the Chinese there is a 7,000 kilometre gain to be had by using the Northwest Passage to get from Shanghai to New Jersey. Others have suggested that there is a net benefit of an additional 4,000 kilometres, going from Shanghai to the European market. That would tell me that the Chinese would be a major factor. Apparently, they are already better equipped than we are to patrol or lead their ships through.
Last week one of my colleagues, maybe Monsieur Laframboise or Monsieur Gaudet, asked for an indication of how many vessels are actually in those waters today. If we can't keep track of them today, what are we going to do when they actually start coming in numbers that we won't be able to control?
I don't know whether Mr. Adams or Monsieur Pelletier has thought that one through.