Mr. Speaker, for those watching at home, we are now in what is called the adjournment proceedings, or affectionately the late show. It happens every day about 6:30 p.m. If there is a question asked in the House of Commons and the member is not happy with the answer, then the member has this time to go into it in more detail.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs made a comment about talking about sovereignty with his colleagues in other Arctic nations. I rose in the House on February 3 to ask a very simple question about what he would tell them. Much to the surprise of everyone in the House, the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not rise. There was a silence for a while and then another minister rose. If people wonder why I was concerned about what he might tell them, it is because of the troubled history the government has with its promises on sovereignty.
For instance, the Prime Minister's first promise was for three armed Arctic icebreakers. All of sudden, they vanished. The navy has none of those. There is a promise of one for the Coast Guard for sometime in the future. We do not know when that will be.
Patrol boats are boasted for the Arctic policy. When the ice can be 18 feet thick, patrol boats will only be able to go through three feet of ice. Perhaps they can be used in other places or at other times of the year. That is fine. I have every confidence in the navy to do that. However, the government should not be taking the Arctic money for those purposes.
What about the naval strength and supply ships? They were cancelled. The planes for Yellowknife have vanished. A deep sea port is a good idea, but where is it? Where is the development of that? The construction of a winter training centre is another good idea, but where is the progress on that? Where is the training centre?
Another area I have been pushing for years in the House is search and rescue planes for the north. In fact, the whole fleet has to be refurbished. In credit to the Minister of Defence, he said, finally, after us bringing it up so many times, that the fleet would refurbished. However, there has been no mention of it or no announcement. I have no confidence that any of those planes will be placed in the north to protect the lives of northerners.
One only has to read the front page of today's Globe and Mail about another aspect of this failed northern policy. Researchers talk about the fact that they do not have the money to conduct their work in the north, especially now that the IPY funds that we had initiated are running out. The chief scientist of the Polar Environmental Atmosphere Research Lab in Eureka, in Nunavut, James Drummond, stated that his lab was threatened by poorly directed funding.
The lack of commitment for the north and Arctic policy can be seen by the fact that the government cancelled the ambassador of circumpolar affairs and has never replaced him in a time when there is more and more attention of the world on the north because of the melting waters and the opening up of such a fragile ecosystem.
At last week's meeting of Arctic parliamentarians, I had the opportunity to discuss the great strengths of our Arctic sovereignty, the greatest strength being the people, and the fact that the northern and aboriginal peoples, who have made up our history for eons, were our highest priority and we would continue to support them.