National Defence committee  From an international perspective, we have to convince our circumpolar neighbours about the importance of the Inuit and the manner in which this makes the Arctic an exception. I don't know how many arguments I've had with Americans or with Norwegians who say there is nothing in international law about aboriginal issues, ergo, these are moot points.

National Defence committee  The reality is that we need at least three of them. The nature of refit, the nature of the geography, and the fact that the Louis S. St-Laurent is already about 45 years old and the remaining four medium-class icebreakers we have are approaching 35 to 40 years means we need the replacement.

National Defence committee  On a policy intellectual perspective, I say it's very much in the right direction. My concern is implementation. I've seen a series of very good policy statements come from both the Liberals and the Conservatives in the past, and the problem has always been that within two to three years of their release, we have faced the usual cycle of an economic crisis, at which point they immediately get thrown out.

National Defence committee  Let's be very clear in terms of the cost. Everything is expensive. When the coast guard is talking about replenishment of its existing capabilities—and it desperately needs to replenish them—you are talking, as a minimum, $720 million per ship. That's probably going to get you a straight replacement cost.

National Defence committee  I would say the Northwest Passage is but one of the boundaries. We are going to have the issue in the Beaufort Sea; we're going to have the issue in the continental shelf. Let me be very clear on this. Do I think the end of our policy should be about sovereignty, to say “we have sovereignty”?

National Defence committee  Those are outstanding questions, sir, and thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to clarify on the international cooperation. You're absolutely right, we need both. They cannot be separated. In fact, if there has been a critique with Canadian policy in the long term, it's that we've had a bit of a tendency to say we do either one or the other.

National Defence committee  There is no question in my mind that this should be with DND. DND has the experience on the two coasts. They understand what is necessary. They have shown the best track record of not only having a vision--once again, one can look to lead mark and vectors, and it doesn't matter in terms of the policy--but they also understand surveillance.

National Defence committee  I have absolutely argued in favour of making NORDREG compulsory. To take a metaphor from Calgary, the idea of having the Deerfoot Highway given a speed limit but then asking everybody to report whether or not they are speeding is ludicrous. I think it's equally ludicrous to turn around and say, if indeed we are, that the Northwest Passage is internal waters, which has total party acceptance on that particular issue.

National Defence committee  They've been developing this under key policies. They have been doing the classic bad cop, good cop. The bad cop for the Arctic is Chilingarov. He's the one who is making by far the most unilateral statements--the patrols are, clearly. The Russians are clearly developing a diplomatic technique of pushing those countries.

National Defence committee  The major thing about the partition is about oil. It's about the soil and subsoil. If everybody does what they say they're going to do, which is to follow the rules exactly, then we may see this as an example of great cooperation. The test will be when we have an overlap with either the Americans or the Russians, which looks as if we will, and if we can mediate and decide upon it peacefully.

National Defence committee  Certainly. In terms of the re-equipment, the major issue is that we have a long-term challenge before us. To be quite blunt, and this is quite frankly a bipartisan issue, we have not had a good record in our procurement policy. We have had an issue where we tend to buy a whole bunch all at once and then basically let them rust out.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much. It is indeed my pleasure to be here. I applaud the committee for its examination and work on this critically important issue. There are about four major points that I want to make. The first one is the issue of why we care about Arctic sovereignty and security.

Transport committee  But we are going to have to deal with countries coming in, and that's going to require DND also.

Transport committee  Absolutely.

Transport committee  I would argue that the Arctic is as important to us as our response to 9/11. If you recall, the events of 9/11 caused a fundamental reorganization of the cabinet structures and the very way that cabinet itself approached the issues of internal security. I believe the time has come that we treat the Arctic the same way, because what my research has told me is that we respond to crises.