Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the national shipbuilding strategy.
Before we discuss the national shipbuilding strategy, I would like to provide a brief overview of my mandate as the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and my priorities for ensuring that Canada has combat capable maritime forces that are ready to deploy when called upon by the Government of Canada to meet the wide variety of taskings that can come our way through the spectrum of conflict.
As head of the navy, I am responsible for producing globally deployable maritime forces. In this role, I lead an organization that takes the required capability and combines it with trained sailors to prepare ships and submarines for Government of Canada missions both domestically and internationally.
A somewhat unique feature of the naval force is that it can be used for humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, naval diplomacy, deterrence or combat, depending on the situation.
This means ensuring that the required sailors and ships are ready to deploy in various circumstances according to the Government of Canada demand signal, which includes responding to international crises, such as supporting NATO in light of the Russian aggression in Europe, operating in the Arctic in support of Canadian sovereignty, combatting drug trafficking in the Caribbean or responding to humanitarian disasters such as earthquakes or floods. However, it should be noted that I am not responsible for leading deployed operations. That responsibility falls to Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie, commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command.
As I command the navy, my top priority is people. Without the sailors and public servants that crew and support our fleet, we cannot be operationally effective through the spectrum of activity in which we are asked to operate. Part of focusing on people is ensuring that we have an organizational culture that meets the needs of both our people and our institution. This means continuing to develop an inclusive and diverse navy that is reflective of Canada's values and ethics and is based upon a foundation of respect.
Systemic problems require systemic solutions, which is why we are working closely with the commander of professional conduct and culture to ensure that we keep culture change on the agenda and that we lean in to correcting past wrongs while enabling an operationally effective navy for the future.
Everyone is welcome in the Royal Canadian Navy and should feel safe there, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. Our corporate culture must reflect the values of Canadians, and it will.
Another important priority, which brings us together here today, is fielding ships and submarines for operational employment. The Royal Canadian Navy's primary role in the national shipbuilding strategy is to provide the right maritime requirements to ensure that our fleet is positioned to meet the challenges of both the current and future threat environments.
In this regard, the navy team works closely with Mr. Crosby's team in ADM materiel to set the requirements in order to meet the missions assigned to the Royal Canadian Navy by the Government of Canada.
After setting this requirement, the navy team coordinates closely with ADM materiel and Public Services and Procurement Canada as they deliver the necessary and effective capability to meet Canada's maritime needs.
That is why today's meeting is so important to the Royal Canadian Navy. The national shipbuilding strategy is the mechanism through which the future fleet will be delivered, and we need to make sure the strategy is well positioned to do it as effectively as possible.
Thank you.