Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll begin by thanking the officials. It's no secret that at times I've been disappointed by officials coming before committee, but today I have been absolutely impressed with all your work. Thank you for your transparency, your willingness to engage and your openness to help us as a committee understand what's going on.
In my head, I have a bunch of words beginning with “d”: diplomacy, dialogue and deterrence. I want to close on defence, which is not my area.
I want to give Major-General Prévost a chance to talk about the fact that this is not a symbolic activity that we're engaged in but a very real activity, the extension of Operation Unifier, as well as to talk a bit on Operation Reassurance, which is a tandem operation in the region, ensuring stability. Canadians—maybe five, but a few Canadians—are watching our hearing today and I want you to have the chance to talk about the importance of the military work we are engaging in.
A lot of people are focused on hardware, and in fact, are fixated on it. I'm focused on training, on engagement, on the frigate that we have with NATO and on operations Reassurance and Unifier. Could you close with a brief explanation of why this is important work we're doing?