Mr. Bains, you're asking an extremely important question, because I actually think the greatest challenge, regardless of what my colleagues have said, is not the actual equipment; it is the people.
The greatest shortfalls currently that the Canadian Armed Forces have are with regard to specific trades related to the Canadian navy. We can buy all the planes and ships we want. Regardless of what the cost overruns are, if we can't provide the bespoke people for trades and occupations, if we can't provide the pilots, it doesn't matter what plane in the world.... We've put a lot of emphasis on procurement, but there are significant challenges, and I'm testifying next week before the national defence committee on the recruitment and retention side.
The armed forces have to do three things. They have to be able to regenerate. They have to be able to maintain and sustain themselves, and they have to be able to operate. We have, for years, put so much emphasis on operations that we haven't been able to regenerate and maintain the force, so now we are having significant challenges on the regeneration side. It is going to compromise the ability of the Canadian Armed Forces to maintain and definitely to operate if we can't fix those regeneration issues.
I think there needs to be a much more concerted emphasis on making sure the organization can actually regenerate itself in light of the significant challenges that it faces on regeneration.