Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the senior staff at DFO and the coast guard for being here with us today.
Let me begin by saying, Mr. Chairman, how disappointed I am that we are not going to see the minister before the supplementary estimates (B) are introduced in the House to vote. This is a significant department with a nearly $2-billion budget, and the supplementary estimates (B) are $178 million, no small sum.
People are probably going to say, “Well, you know, it was because of procedural wrangling that this committee hasn't met, and therefore, we weren't able to give the minister enough time.” I think we all knew that the supp (B)s had to go back into the House at a particular point in time, and therefore, she could have.... A few other ministers have appeared before their committees to answer questions. I wanted to make that point, because it's all about accountability, and I think the political minister is responsible to the House through this committee.
I have a few questions. Most of them deal indirectly with the supp (B)s, but I want to start with the decision to bump the work on the new polar vessel out to 2022. I believe Seaspan said that we can't do everything and the navy got precedence on the space that they had in order to do this work. I think the Louis was built in 1968 and does pretty hard work. I wonder if you share the concern expressed by many that this is going to affect our ability to do the kind of work that the Louis has done, if we are going out to 2022, and heaven knows whether we're going to be able to do the work even before then. I wondered if you would comment, please.