I would agree with all that, and as I said before, I think at this level, at the strategic level of Ottawa and so on, what would be most helpful is a concerted effort by the political community to rebuild and transform the Canadian forces rapidly.
In 1950, when NATO was formed, we had fewer than 30,000 people in the armed forces, an old propeller-driven air force, and a bunch of rusted up old ships. Six years later we had 120,000 in the armed forces, jet squadrons, a jet air force, 12 squadrons deployed in Europe, brand new fleets of ships, and so on.
When Canadians decided that defending ourselves against the ever onward creeping tide of communism was important, we did something.
I think a resolve in Parliament to rebuild the armed forces dramatically, quickly, and together would be useful. And I'll throw out, if I may, Mr. Chair, an advertisement that on October 5 in this town, Queen's University will release a new study called “Reinventing Canadian Defence Procurement”, which we hope will be a plan to do at least part of that kind of job.
But we need to get serious. We have only 20,000 people in the army, and they're carrying the weight for the entire country. These young people need some support, and they need big support, not small support.