I appreciate that you cited our having three coastlines—the longest coastline in the world. It's critical that we have the right equipment for our men and women. I didn't have a chance to say, on record, how much I appreciate their sacrifice and service to our country.
At the same time, we need to make sure we're looking at these costs, which have skyrocketed since the initial time frame. The life-cycle costs of this project continue to expand. Upon hearing that the latest estimate exceeds $300 billion, many Canadians are thinking about what could have been achieved if some of that total were put towards other urgent needs, such as our health care system, including mental health, climate action or the housing crisis.
Since the project's original budget was set in 2008, how much of the increased cost could have been avoided and how might those increases have been mitigated?