Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to welcome the witnesses and thank them for being with us.
Even before your report was released, Allan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister at the Department of Defence, warned that the costs of this program alone exceed the total funding available within the Department of National Defence to acquire and maintain capital equipment for the combined army, navy and air force, with the risk that the purchase of these ships will come at the expense of other acquisition projects, thereby mortgaging military operations.
What do you think about it?
Allan Williams added that it would be foolish not to start the process again, since Canada can't afford to buy these 15 surface combatants.
What do you think of his analysis?