Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses. Some of them have appeared before our committee before, so it's good to have them back.
Earlier, we were told that patrols declined by 30% on the Atlantic side and that it was due to the obsolescence of the ships and the lack of resources to make the upgrades on time.
In Quebec, we have the Davie shipyard, which has the capacity to meet 50% of Canada's shipbuilding needs and meets the highest technology standards. We have been fighting for several years for the Davie shipyard to have its share of the market, its share of shipbuilding projects and its share of contracts. While the Davie shipyard is waiting for contracts, other shipyards elsewhere in Canada are still not able to meet their commitments for upgrades. That's not counting the cost overruns. Today, we find ourselves in a situation where we do not have enough ships for the patrol fleet.
Does that decision come from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans? Is it a directive from the top, from the Minister of Finance, for example? How can it be explained that, despite the fact that a shipyard could deliver a certain number of ships on time, the government decided instead to fund the upgrading of ships carried out by other Canadian shipyards, which have not yet been able to meet their commitments?
Are the decisions that are being made on investments, on shipbuilding and on ship upgrades coming from your department, or are they stemming from a directive from a higher level of government?