Senator Loffreda: Thank you for that reassurance, Senator Gold.

In a column published last week, Stephen Van Dine wrote that:

. . . Canada’s influence at that table —

— that of the Arctic Council, which was created in 1996 in Ottawa —

— has begun to wane, especially in comparison to financial commitments made by other nations including Norway and Denmark as well as the United States and Russia.

We know that Canada has made important investments and commitments to addressing domestic issues for northern residents and Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, but with the increasing traffic in the region and the interests of other nations in this part of the world, I feel that Canada needs to do more to reestablish itself as an Arctic powerhouse. We need to take this issue more seriously.

What is the government doing to advance and protect our foreign interests in the region?