Senator Coyle: Thank you for your response. I look forward to hearing more about the mitigation aspect as well.

Senator Gold, could you tell us anything about how Canada is collaborating with other Arctic countries on the loss of sea ice challenges?

Hon. Mary Coyle: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, today, June 8, is World Ocean Day, a day when people around the world rally to protect and restore our shared oceans and to ensure a stable climate. Canada has 162,000 kilometres of Arctic Ocean coastline, with sea ice across three territories and four provinces, much of it in Indigenous territory.

Yesterday, the CBC reported that according to new scientific research, the Arctic Ocean is predicted to be free of summer ice potentially as early as 2030, depending on global emissions — a full decade earlier than previous estimates. This big melt would significantly impact Arctic communities by damaging infrastructure built on increasingly unstable permafrost, and it would threaten the way of life of Arctic residents.

Ice-free summers would be devastating for the fragile ecosystems that depend on sea ice, from algae to polar bears. Canada is an Arctic nation, and the Arctic is the earth’s air conditioner, with Arctic ice and snow reflecting back 80% of the sun’s radiation. Ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean will lead to more extreme weather events in the rest of Canada and certainly well beyond.

Senator Gold, what plans does the Canadian government have in place to respond to the multiple and serious implications of the loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean?