Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for appearing today.
You probably read the other day a letter to the editor of our Chronicle-Herald newspaper by Captain Stewart Klebert, who has just about 35 years experience within the coast guard, and he is also one of my constituents. I just want to make a brief statement on his concerns. He has addressed some very serious concerns about the reallocation of the Terry Fox and the Louis S. St-Laurent to Newfoundland, as have the Canadian Coast Guard alumni. They have made assessments of their opinion regarding this move to Argentia and to Newfoundland.
Mr. Da Pont, when you were here last time you indicated a cost of about half a million dollars in terms of relocating the staff and everything else over the five years of going back and forth. I'm just wondering if you have now had a chance to estimate the total cost to the Canadian taxpayer to move those vessels from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, including everything: administration, dredging, any dock work, anything that needs to be done in order to have the same type of access they had in the maritime region.