Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister.
I'm pleased to see this bill here, as well. Although it's simple, it opens up a lot of things we obviously have to do through the Government of Canada to make this not simply a piece of paper but a reality on the ground. I think quite clearly there are opportunities to get a better handle on it.
I know there was some mention of planning. Looking at the resources that are going to be in the area, I believe the Arctic Council is moving quickly towards—and this was presented at the gathering of northern parliamentarians in Fairbanks—the finishing of a study on the different areas where the Arctic is going to be used. That includes shipping, of course, fisheries, tourism, and resource development. These all come together, and that report could be a basis for understanding the potential requirements for this type of legislation in that area.
The work is going on internationally that I think this government should pick up on, and that's one of the questions I have. There are many things happening internationally that will affect our ability to prevent pollution in the area and to actually prevent pollution rather than enforce pollution rules. One of them would be, of course, to establish mandatory operational requirements for vessels in northern waters. Transport Canada has initiated that work in years gone by, and what it needs is a firm commitment by our government and an appetite to work on this at the international level through cooperation to get these mandatory requirements together.
Maybe your department could speak a little bit to that.