I completely agree, sir, on this idea of trade-offs. I think missing for some time in this discussion is what you gain by having the capacity to develop, to not just build the ships but, crucially, to be able to maintain and sustain them over decades.
That is a domestic sovereignty capability you need. If we didn't do this, to go simply buying ships offshore again, you would have to depend on foreign builders to be responsible in the long term for doing significant modifications or upkeep, unless you're willing to make that vested in Canada.
We found out, with the Victoria-class submarine, when we bought those ships, that the production line for them was shut down. We had to restart that production line from scratch and learn from scratch how to maintain and sustain them, because we didn't have that sovereignty capability.
I'm not saying what the right answer is; I'm saying it's part of the trade-offs that you recognize in your question, sir, and we should be fully aware of those when we make these types of decisions.