Foreign Affairs committee  I have been to Siberia. Russia is the largest country in the world. Most of its coastline is undeveloped. In my view, they are more advanced in terms of Arctic oil and gas drilling and transportation than we are, and they have many decades to go before they have any problem with

Foreign Affairs committee  If any foreign company or foreign country wants to engage in natural resource activity in Canada, they are subject to Canadian laws and to Canadian oversight. That's simply part of the deal. I have no concern, provided that Canadian regulatory agencies have sufficient funding to

Foreign Affairs committee  There have been two small cruise ships that have grounded on rocks in the last eight years in the Canadian High Arctic. Both those groundings occurred during good weather. I have been in the same waters in gale-force winds, in 20-foot waves that would rip apart those ships like

Foreign Affairs committee  I believe you're quoting Alan Kessel. Certainly that's very similar to what he told this committee.

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. Let me just be clear, because there was a little bit of a lack of clarity in Mr. Kessel's testimony on this point. The Chinese did not recognize Canada's legal position. They asked for permission to conduct scientific research, which is required even if the Northwest Passa

Foreign Affairs committee  We'll see, but I'm thinking more about the Chinese overseas shipping company that is sending ships through the northern sea route and working with Russia. It's those cargo vessels, those bulk carriers and those container ships, that cannot plausibly use the scientific research ex

Foreign Affairs committee  We have quite good situational awareness in Canada's Arctic. This is often ignored by pundits. We have, for instance, the world's best synthetic aperture radar satellite, RADARSAT-2, that we designed for the Arctic. It can measure the thickness and density of sea ice. It even can

Foreign Affairs committee  The only problem would be if we knew and did nothing. It's better to not know from a legal perspective.

Foreign Affairs committee  Just to add one thing, it is possible to exempt a particular situation from international law more generally by entering into a bilateral treaty with a disputing state. If Canada and the United States were to reach a bilateral agreement on the Northwest Passage, that would take i

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question, because it enables me to clarify that, in addition to the Northwest Passage, which passes through Canada's Arctic archipelago, there is, on the other side of the Arctic Ocean, a traffic route called the northern sea route that passes along the coast o

Foreign Affairs committee  I believe it was in 1965 the U.S. sent a Coast Guard to sail through the Vil'kitskii Straits, which is one of these choke points, and the Soviet embassy in Washington warned that the Soviet Union would “go all the way” to stop the voyage. The United States very wisely ordered the

Foreign Affairs committee  Very simply, yes, Soviet submarines use Canada's Arctic waters. The Soviet charts are much better than the Canadian charts, which is pretty conclusive proof—

Foreign Affairs committee  —of this. However, a submarine is designed to be covert, and something that is covert, that is hidden, cannot change a legal situation.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I am very pleased to be here today. I do speak French, of course, but my English is better, so my remarks will be in English today. You have benefited from testimony from the legal adviser at Global Affairs Canada, Alan Kessel, who is one of the finest inte

National Defence committee  The person I referred to is Jack Granatstein, who is one of the most long-time and vocal champions of a strong Canadian military. I haven't spoken to him in the last couple of years, but I'm pretty sure he believes Canada should stay in NATO. Let me be clear that in 2013 he wasn'