Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to Canada and thank you for that lovely overview.
I love the fact you ended on some warm notes about hockey rivalries and the like. I think most Canadians, before they think of Op Reassurance, think of Latvia from a hockey perspective as well, whether it's the juniors or the Olympics, or that sort of thing. Thank you for building on the relationship by coming here to meet with us.
You've mentioned that we're strong allies, friends and partners. That's only been growing. We share national interests in both trade, investment, and security, of course. I'm going to focus a little bit on the security piece.
The polling numbers you provided on the support for Operation Reassurance and a Canadian presence in Latvia were interesting. Certainly we're very proud of the mission. It was started under a Conservative government and extended by the Liberal government, so there's bipartisan support.
Where do you think Op Reassurance needs to go over the next few years if there is a permanent presence? Certainly there have been large training exercises by the Russians. Where do you see Op Reassurance going in the next four or five years to make sure that we show that it's not a temporary sign of support, but a permanent presence to ensure that the imperial aggressions of Russia are not tolerated?