Thank you for the question. In fact, a motion on this was put forward by one of our colleagues. There was one on the NDP side as well. People are concerned about abandoned vessels. There's no question about it.
From a transportation point of view, they can sometimes represent a hazard to navigation, so they directly involve us. My colleague, Minister LeBlanc is also concerned about—and this is in his bailiwick—whether some of the ships that have sunk represent an environmental concern.
Essentially, the primary tool we will be going after is to make sure that shipowners realize that they are responsible for the disposal of their ships. We'll look at measures to ensure that they are going to take the necessary measures in terms of their ownership. We'll look at the issue of insurance. We are going to make it very clear that if you own a vessel you are responsible for it right up until its disposal.
That is the primary approach we are taking. We are also going to accede to the Nairobi Convention, which deals with the responsibilities of shipowners with respect to disposing of ships at the end of their life.
We're also going to work with the provinces to try to find the best way to ensure that the whole process of ownership and registration takes into account this requirement for disposal. Obviously some of the provinces have ships and derelict vessels.
In terms of the funding for the hundreds of wrecks that exist, this is something we will probably approach on a gradual basis, because there are a large number and we can't do them all at once. It's a little bit like contaminated sites. There are thousands of contaminated sites in this country. We cannot address all of those contaminated sites in one shot, so we do some of them year by year. It's going to take a while.