Mr. Chair, I want to comment on a question that was posed earlier by the member for Vancouver Island North with respect to the $5 billion and the differentiation between the $3.5 billion and the $1.5 billion. I have had an opportunity to get some clarification on that and essentially it is not that different from what I indicated.
The government is very adamant that $5 billion is the amount that needs to be rolled back. The $3.5 billion goes up to the point when the extraordinary challenge was launched in November 2004. This amount is not really being disputed. The United States has taken a different position with respect to the $1.5 billion and it has some legal options with respect to it.
We have won all the arguments up until this point, so the Canadian government will be taking the position with the International Court that the $1.5 billion is in the same category as the $3.5 billion.
Ultimately, the differentiation is more of process and timing. The government is resolute in our position that $5 billion is the amount in question. That $5 billion is not legally supportable to be retained by the U.S.