National Defence committee  Okay, I understood the question. We have a relationship second to none with the Canadian Coast Guard. The coast guard term, unfortunately, is a name of a service, the Canadian Coast Guard. The function of coast guarding is shared by many marine agencies, whether you're in Canada

National Defence committee  As we move to the Arctic, we plan the annual season. It's a very short navigation season from mid-July to mid-October. The coast guard goes in to break ice, to help resupply the communities and to patrol the corridors and do a lot of science. The navy goes in to support constabul

National Defence committee  As I have already explained a number of times, we must first work with the Marine Security Operations Centre. Have I understood your question?

National Defence committee  Wow, did I say that? The Combined Task Force 150, in the Arabian Sea, in sea lanes that reach all the way back to Africa, through the Suez Canal, into southern Europe, and actually flow drugs into the United States—the very thing that HMCS Toronto was just provided a meritorious

National Defence committee  The marine security operations centre is not run by the navy, but we are participants in it. We are an equal to all of the other five security partners. I think all the security partners of the MSOC would benefit from a greater public and a greater legislative understanding of

National Defence committee  Yes, ma'am. That's my commander's business, to work with government to create a bridging strategy to the building of the joint support ship and to the Canadian surface combatant, to which the navy is fundamentally committed. My job is to find ways, working with our allies, to i

National Defence committee  Yes, ma'am.

National Defence committee  Ma'am, with all due respect, I have to refer that question to the air force, which would be working on the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles, but I do control the surveillance mission for the eastern seaboard of Canada. It's called Op Leviathan, and right now and going into th

National Defence committee  I can't dress this up any differently. We did retire HMCS Preserver on the east coast and we did retire HMCS Athabaskan. Those decisions were taken to allow the navy to focus good dollars on the best and most highly useful ships of the fleet. We're incredibly proud of the two shi

National Defence committee  France is an enduring ally, sir. It's a beautiful—

National Defence committee  We do not do military exercises because of the location of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in our waters, but France is an enduring ally. They send their warships to Halifax, to Quebec City. They participate in Rendez-Vous Naval. They carried the Royal 22nd Regiment at sea on the Mistr

National Defence committee  Yes, ma'am. That's a big question. The Canadian Atlantic fleet, or the Canadian fleet, is as ready and capable as it ever was, but there are changes and there are resource pressures. Since the report of the chief review services—I think you're reading from it—from 2013, ships ha

National Defence committee  It's an excellent question, sir, and a very broad question. There are several threats in the international realm right now, or several rapidly developing situations. One is the continuing unrest in several Arab countries and in the Middle East; the other is Russia's aggression

National Defence committee  I think Canada has done a very good job, sir, of policing its 200-mile economic exclusion zone and working with the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization to bring jurisdiction and governance to waters far more distant than even the Flemish Cap and the tail and nose of the Gra

National Defence committee  Sir, the Marine Institute provided a phenomenally high-quality graduate to the navy in both the combat systems and the marine engineering technical trades. I will give them that; they are a wonderful school. But they are one of about 60 schools across Canada that could do the sam