Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The funding provided to replace icebreakers so far has just been to replace the Louis S. St. Laurent with a polar icebreaker. The work there is well under way. It's in a relatively detailed design stage. What you see in the estimates before you is to access funding to complete the design work.

National Defence committee  On our part, with the coast guard, we have a strong and increasing relationship with National Defence around these issues. First of all, we, along with others, are part of the marine security operation centres that are run by DND. As you're probably well aware, there's one on the east coast and one on the west coast.

National Defence committee  Let me explain to you some of the responsibilities of the coast guard. Today, surveillance is carried out under international standards because most countries have the same systems as far as the activities of their respective coast guards are concerned. Of course, I cannot speak to the activities you describe and which fall under the responsibility of the Canadian Forces or other entities.

National Defence committee  I will answer first, and perhaps my colleague will add a few words. We have witnessed some operations. Given our mandate, our activities and our location, we have seen scientific activities. Every time we see a foreign vessel in the North outside of the territorial boundary, we enter that information into the system.

National Defence committee  I was afraid someone was going to ask me that question, because I don't really have the detailed response. We do not keep statistics by region. However, if you wish, we could do some research and get back to you with that information shortly.

National Defence committee  Yes, certainly. Given that we now arrive in the region one or two weeks earlier and stay later, we have had the opportunity to observe this type of change. As I mentioned, we have already received investments to address environmental issues. I imagine that we will continue along that path.

National Defence committee  Well, we're leading it in the sense that a couple of our coast guard experts have taken a leadership role in chairing the working group under the International Maritime Organization, which is developing the system and the various protocols that go with the system.

National Defence committee  We have a shared role in that. Transport Canada sets out the regulatory structure within which it takes place. The coast guard is the operations group, taking the information and relaying it to the appropriate bodies, be they Transport Canada or the maritime security operations centres.

National Defence committee  Thank you. I will begin and my colleague may wish to add a few words. The coast guard has 40 large vessels. Many of them have been around for some time, but are still capable of carrying out the necessary tasks. In the past three or four budgets, the government announced an investment of $1.4 billion to replace 12 of these ships and to add 5 others.

National Defence committee  There's only one aspect of our mandate that's a little bit different in the north from what it is south of 60. We basically deliver the same range of programs in the north as we do in the south, and we have the same responsibilities. The only difference is that under the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, the coast guard in the north is the primary responder to pollution incidents.

National Defence committee  Yes, the reports would go to our marine communications and traffic control centres. We have seasonal ones in Iqaluit and Inuvik. The overall regulatory responsibility is with Transport Canada, but we're the operational end. The reports come to us and we process them.

National Defence committee  It's been our general impression that the vast majority of vessels going to the Arctic do report voluntarily. It is in their self-interest, obviously, to do so if they run into difficulty and require assistance of any nature. But given that it is voluntary and not mandatory, from time to time there have been vessels that have not reported.

National Defence committee  At the moment we don't have a way of knowing this in a way that could give you the precise numbers or information you're looking for. Certainly when vessels operating in the Arctic have voluntarily notified us, we've been better able to track them. One of the things that will greatly enhance our ability to do that, as I mentioned in my presentation, is that when we begin this year, and into next year, to roll out the long-range identification tracking system, it will give us for the first time a very good capacity to track vessels in the north.

National Defence committee  Yes, that's correct, it's what we've been doing for two years. Last season, we worked part of the time with an American icebreaker; we shared tasks. As Ms. Labonté just explained, the conditions in the Far North, as you know, are very difficult. In the area north of the Beaufort Sea, the conditions were very harsh and it was virtually impossible to do the work required with only one icebreaker.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the committee for the invitation and appreciate the opportunity to make an opening statement. Let me begin by introducing René Grenier, the Deputy Commissioner of the Coast Guard. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grenier was a captain in our icebreaker fleet, so he has considerable experience working the Arctic.