Thank you very much, Commissioner, for appearing before us. We wish you all the very best in the future.
One of the questions I'd like to raise, in terms of operational issues, is this. You've mentioned as one of your priorities an intention to continue to modernize and upgrade equipment and standards within the Canadian Coast Guard. One of the issues facing mariners.... I'll preface by saying that the Canadian Coast Guard is one of the few organizations of the Government of Canada that actually has a strong physical presence in peripheral regions, and coastal regions in particular, and it's why members of this committee particularly are engaged with the Canadian Coast Guard on a number of its initiatives and are well aware of its importance and stature in overall maritime operations.
One of the issues that have been raised concerning modernization of equipment is marine communications and traffic systems. Would you be able to comment for me as to whether, with upgrades in technology, it's the coast guard's intention to remove present facilities, to actually consolidate facilities and move to centralized locations as opposed to continuing in the regions?