Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses. Thank you to the members of the Coast Guard for their service to our country and for their time, and thank you to their families.
The government has moved the Canadian Coast Guard into the Department of National Defence and is counting Coast Guard spending as part of Canada's broader defence spending. At the same time, the government's own documents make clear that the Coast Guard remains a civilian organization, with civilian vessels and civilian mandates.
If the Coast Guard remains a civilian, unarmed organization and is not part of the Canadian Armed Forces, how is its spending being counted toward military defence spending?
Mr. Wight, I'll start with you.