First, President Reagan was not enthusiastic. But I built up a relationship with him in other areas and then persuaded him that this was important to us and to me, and that we had to at least be in the process of looking at this seriously.

We decided that the environment was an integral part of our policies and the political thrust of our government. We gave it the priority and we sustained it with the money required to make it happen.

I would go to them and I would explain this is the price of going forward. We're going to move ahead in all these other areas. We're moving ahead in tax reform and GST, we are moving ahead on trade, but this will not be done at the cost of the environment.

There are so many demands on your time, on your resources, and on the prestige of the government.

I commend Sri Chinmoy for his faith and serenity, and I hope he will continue to exert his calming and constructive influence on the international community for many years to come.

And look, I was a big, brassy guy who won and won big. I did what I wanted.

I can see now a vision emerging how Canada is going to profit in the future from our Arctic resources without destroying the environment on which it is all based.