Hon. David Richards: Thank you very much, Senator Gold. We all hope you are right on that. This question is comparable to Senator Wells’s question that he asked a few moments ago.

I have asked this question before. What steps is Canada taking or prepared to take to counter Russian and Chinese activities in the Far North? Does our government even have the will, knowing we do not have the means, to address this growing concern?

You mentioned NORAD the last time this question was posed by me, but we know, as far as the North is concerned, the U.S.A. has its own strategic interests — at times very independent of Canadian concerns — and has asked Canadians, on many occasions, to step up with their own abilities in the North and that Canada has not done so.

Hon. David Richards: Senator Ringuette and Senator McCallum asked the question I was going to ask, but I’ll put it in a slightly different way, Senator Gold, if I could.

Have we tracked the percentage of people who are demanding rapid tests over the last three or four months and if that demand has gone up or down? Is there is any way to know how it varies?

Hon. David Richards: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold. I would like you to comment on this, and then I will ask a supplementary question, please.

We do not want a wider war, but with over a million refugees coming through Hungary and Poland, we are already in a wider war. We are watching a horror show unfold before our very eyes, and dismissing the urgent calls and pleas and begging for a no-fly zone reminded me of Churchill’s comment after the Munich Agreement. “You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.”

If you could comment, and then I will have a supplementary question.