Statement made on 17 May 2012 by Senator Roméo Dallaire
Hon. Roméo Antonius Dallaire:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate, and follows along the same lines as Senator Tardif's question regarding the Arctic.
The Prime Minister has travelled to the North on several occasions to affirm the essential role of our sovereignty and our presence in the Arctic. Without this presence, it would be difficult to assert our Arctic sovereignty.
The budget has not yet passed, but the departments are already getting ready to implement it. However, there seems to be a lack of continuity or a lack of communication between those who are implementing the budget cuts and the Prime Minister regarding his policies on certain issues, and the Arctic is one such example.
Consider the example of Canadian naval vessels. They were supposed to begin patrolling the Arctic in 2016. However, that project has been postponed by three years. It is going to take three years to complete that project.
It also appears as though the RADARSAT Constellation, a large-scale project involving three satellites to monitor the North, is about to be abolished or at least postponed.
Has the Prime Minister developed a policy whereby he committed to monitor the Arctic, but now that it is time to allocate funding, he has changed his basic philosophy regarding the desire to move forward on the issue of Arctic sovereignty?
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