Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I too will be supporting the amendment from Ms. Dancho to ask the minister to come here. The reason I think it's important is that we need to hear what the government is thinking. It wasn't that long ago that Prime Minister Carney promised us that defence spending would be focused more on Canadian manufacturing and Canadian suppliers. Just today the media is reporting that the Canadian army is moving ahead with a $5-billion purchase from the U.S. defence manufacturing sector. I think we need to know, really, the government's position on Canadian manufacturing when it comes to defence spending. Are we going to focus it on Canadian sources, or are we going to focus it on American sources?
I think we need to get clarification from the minister on what the government is thinking. That's why I think it's important that the minister attend.