National Defence committee  You're speaking, of course, of ex gratia payments—

National Defence committee  I'm well aware of the home equity policy, but I'm not aware of the numbers you spoke of. However, I am aware of grievances that have come up to me. In fact, what you speak to is the ability then of the CDS to provide an ex gratia payment in response to a grievance that he agrees with.

National Defence committee  It will always concern military leaders when budgets are decreasing, especially in the face of a seemingly more hostile and uncertain world. But as you point out, Canada is not in a unique space. All of our allies are in a similar space. We have grown in the last six years from about $14 billion to about $21 billion.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. I'm not aware of the reports that have said that the contracts we've taken on have been more expensive than would otherwise have been if we had remained with our former capability.

National Defence committee  Thank you. But I certainly do believe that as we trim contracts in the way forward as part of our debt reduction action plan, we will need to look at all options for maintaining that portion of the capability if that needs to be maintained. If it can be shown to have been “tail”, then wonderful, we've stepped forward and become more efficient.

National Defence committee  The defence renewal team, which holds so much promise for us, will be working on new ways of streamlining our defence processes. I speak hesitatingly about that because it's a new business for us; however, we know that it holds potential for high profit. This week alone, the deputy minister and I, together with the vice-chief of the defence staff and the co-leader of our defence renewal team, were in Toronto speaking with some of the leading businessmen in Canada who have gone through these very difficult transformations that relied on business process renewal.

National Defence committee  Yes, there are. The chief of force development is a two-star admiral named Rear-Admiral Ron Lloyd. He has a team that continually develops recommendations for the armed forces after studying future, potential battlefields and arenas that we may fight in. They have 18 they work through right now.

National Defence committee  I am peripherally aware of the work going on with that class action suit, and I will get back to this committee with what details we can, but I am not able to speak with any level of detail on the effects that will have going forward. I'm sorry.

National Defence committee  We now have infrastructure in place—and you spoke to a little bit of it there at 8 Wing—at many wings across the country, small clinics that meet family requirements. As you know, with families moving so frequently, it's tough to get on a list long enough to actually get a family doctor, and these small clinics that you speak to address that by drawing on some of the capacity of the local community, as is the case in Trenton, bringing them in, and then looking after the clientele at the base first.

National Defence committee  I hope not. I understand that the levels set by the public service are standard across the military and the public service. Certainly those who achieve them I think achieve them with full faith in the fact that they've met a standard that's been very rigorous. The hundreds of hours that anglophones have put in on French training at the Royal Military College and that francophones put in on English training go into achieving those levels.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'll answer the last part of the question first. I don't think Canada's role on the international stage will change; I think it will be fortified. We have been successfully employing old fleets to great effect. You speak of the Cyclone coming in, Mr. Norlock. They're working on a couple that are on the ground right now.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chisu, I know you were an engineer over in Afghanistan, and I thank you very much for your years of service, both in the forces and over there. I think in a really strong economy, engineers are often a hot commodity, and we put quite a few through the Royal Military College of Canada, which allows us a very robust construction engineering and combat engineering capability, of which you were part.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. Merci beaucoup. I think you speak to the importance of Collège militaire royal in the training of our young officers, not only the francophones who come into the Collège militaire royal, but also the anglophones who go to the Collège militaire royal for a period, learn French, and then bring those capabilities back to the Royal Military College.

National Defence committee  In full disclosure, I have to say that the only true engineering I've done, even though I have an electrical engineering masters degree, is to teach it as a professor at RMC—and to finish the electric wiring in my basement, which just about outpaced my capabilities.

National Defence committee  I will say, on the question regarding education and the most important factor, I truly have come to believe, even as an engineer, that it's a balance. I think that's why the Royal Military College and the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean have been so successful in graduating leaders who then become very distinguished in their careers, because it's a very balanced education that has you thinking not only of the stiff rigours of the mathematics of engineering, but also about the more abstract thought that can lead you out of the box to solutions that might not otherwise have been evident on your calculator.