Thank you, Mr. Christopherson, for your opening comments and for your pledge to continue to support the men and women in uniform.
I also note that you cited the fact that we still have people deployed. That is, of course, the case. In particular, it's a volatile time in Afghanistan, with recent events and the almost 1,000 people we have there who are continuing in the training mission.
With respect to your question, on November 24 there was in fact a ceremony held here on Parliament Hill. The Prime Minister, Governor General, and other prominent members of the Canadian Forces including the Chief of the Defence Staff and Lieutenant-General Charlie Bouchard, who commanded the NATO-led operations, were here to bear witness to that ceremony, which as you noted was an important and an appropriate way to recognize the Canadian Forces' role in the international mission to protect the citizens of Libya.
With respect to the costs, the cost estimate that was prepared originally for the ceremony was $369,000, including incremental costs.
The flypast consisted of planned hours that were already budgeted. That is to say, these would be qualified as training hours, in which pilots who took part—that is, both the fighter aircraft and the transport aircraft that were flying that day—would be flying hours that would count as training hours for the pilots and crew members.
The flypast itself consisted of those planned hours that were already budgeted by the Royal Canadian Air Force. That money is accounted for in this budget year, and in fact these costs are not considered to be an incremental cost for the Department of National Defence. The estimated cost of the flypast itself was $443,000.
The Canadian Forces mission, as you referenced, is not over. So these hours are valuable, in addition to the fact that I would suggest to you that the coverage of the event was also a very useful exercise for recruitment and for putting emphasis on the important work that is done by those in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Thousands of Canadians—I don't have the number in front of me—would have borne witness to that flypast, that event. It was covered nationally, and of course it carried on later in the day, with Lieutenant-General Bouchard being given recognition in the Senate chamber here on Parliament Hill.