Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. I'll comment, if I may, in two ways. First, I would say, in specific answer to your question about a doctrine, there is policy work under way right now, the Arctic policy framework. Of course, that builds on the oceans protection plan that builds on the defence policy revie

Foreign Affairs committee  In specific answer to your question about the presence of Canadian vessels, icebreakers and others, in the Arctic, I'm not an expert. I think you'll want to be speaking to Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard to get a really accurate picture of our fleet and what they do. How

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, the work that is currently under way to develop an Arctic policy framework will be an important vehicle for looking at those kinds of questions. Other witnesses—transport comes to mind—will be better able to answer your questions. If I understand you correctly, you're askin

Foreign Affairs committee  In the context of the work I do, Russia and the U.S. already co-operate very closely. For example, they just let a project on identifying safe shipping lanes up through the—not the Beaufort, but the—

Foreign Affairs committee  —the Chukchi Sea. Geography is not my strong point. My apologies. In any event, in the Arctic there is really strong co-operation. The Arctic Council is a very flexible institution where Russia and the U.S. are co-operating on this particular issue, and Canada and Russia are lea

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say that of the four things you mentioned, there are related themes in Arctic Council co-operation. That co-operation on social development, economic development, and science is framed by a set of criteria that all observers have to commit and adhere to when they become o

Foreign Affairs committee  I agree with you that there are geostrategic considerations that we need to watch really carefully. The dynamic between Russia and China is complicated. Russia is isolated from the west, with an economy that is affected by sanctions. They need economic growth. They are looking to

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for inviting us here today. My colleague Mr. Kessel has spoken to some of the legal elements of Arctic sovereignty. What I would like to do is share an overview of some policy approaches that we take internationally to bolster our lead

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that question, which ended in a different place than I was expecting. When I referred to a response, I was referring to one directed at the country imposing the sanction. If we impose sanctions on Russia, there is a response directed at Canada. Marc-Yves gave the e

Foreign Affairs committee  With specific reference to the Russian sanctions and the associated Ukrainian sanctions, the purpose of the sanction, working with our partners, is to put pressure on the Government of Russia in the face of its actions in Ukraine in respect of Ukraine's sovereignty. Practically s

Foreign Affairs committee  That's on Russia. On SEMA I would refer to my....

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say that when we look, in coordination with our partners, at the domestic implications of sanctions—the impact on our Canadian companies—we do make an effort to ensure that Canadian business is not going to be relatively disadvantaged, shall we say. That's part of the aim

Foreign Affairs committee  Do you mean the retaliatory ones that the Russians put on us?

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a really good question. I must say that I'm more prepared to speak about the impact of our sanctions on Russia than on the return ones. I have to say that I have been in this job for two months and less than that in dealing with Russia. Reciprocity is certainly a key pri

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. I can speak from the Russian perspective, but there may be others who can speak more generally. The underlying question, as I understand it, relates to the coordination between ourselves, the EU, and the U.S., and how we manage that. As you