I would just like to ask a question of the Minister if he had a chance to talk to his federal counterparts, the whole area, the sort of defence shield we have in North America, especially the coastal line in the Arctic. I believe the federal government has cut back drastically in regard to their flights over the Arctic to monitor our coastline. I believe they were flying about 500 hours a year and now they are down to 40 hours a year. I would like to ask the Minister, has he had a chance to talk to his federal counterparts?
My concern is with the activity happening in the Beaufort Sea and the residents of the people who do use the coastline. The regular flights over the coastline are very important to ensure that we secure the public and that safety and secure our coastline.
I believe last year there was a cruise ship that pulled up into Tuktoyaktuk Harbour, in which the Canadian Government and the people in immigration were not even aware that this ship was in Canadian waters.
I would just like to ask the Minister, have you had a chance to talk to the federal government in regard to our coastline to ensure we are protected? Have you had a chance to talk to the government? There have been some major cutbacks in regard to the coastline protection we have out there.