[Selected recommendations from Independence and Internationalism: Report of the Special Committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons on Canada's International Relations (Queen's Printer, Ottawa, June 1986).]

 "The arctic region is rapidly becoming an area of international attention. Canada's huge stake in this region requires the development of a coherent arctic policy, an essential element of which must be a northern dimension for Canadian foreign policy."

On native culture:

 "The Inuit are Canada's most important support in the Arctic, and government policy should reflect this perception. Canada should give priority to achieving an acceptable land settlement in the North and encourage efforts to find governmental structures that would support Inuit cultural autonomy within the Canadian federation. Support should be given to the development of renewable resources, particularly fishing. Abroad, Canada should make strenuous efforts to reinforce the efforts of Indigenous Survival International, whose Canadian chapter addressed us in Yellowknife, to resist campaigns, especially in Europe, to ban the import of fur products, the trapping of which represents a major source of income for Inuit and Indian peoples in Canada."

On circumpolar relations:

"The committee considers that an arctic exchange program with the Soviet Union is an effective way to increase Canadian knowledge of the north as well as provide a basis for improving East-West relations. We recommend that the existing exchange program be properly funded.

 "More generally, we recommend a concerted program to develop co-operative arrangements with all northern states.... We recommend that Canada pay particular attention to developing good relations with Greenland.... Subject to the agreement of the government of Denmark, we urge the opening of a Canadian consulate in Greenland."

On arctic sovereignty:

". . .we recommend that the government of Canada renew efforts to secure the agreement of the United States to Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage.... unless the United States agrees to recognize Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage by way of a bilateral treaty, the committee's preferred course of action at this time is a deliberate decision to allow time to pass rather than pressing for a decision by the International Court of Justice."

 On national defence:

 "The committee recommends that the possibility of equipping the Canadian navy with diesel-electric submarines be reviewed in the context of a general examination of the country's naval forces and, more generally, of Canada's defence policy.... We recommend that Canada, in co-operation with other arctic and nordic nations, seek the demilitarization of the arctic region through pressure on the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as through a general approach to arms control and disarmament."