Thank you, Mr. Chair, and through you, thank you for coming today, Vice-Admiral.
We actually met on the Montreal when you passed through Toronto last summer. I came down to get a sense of the frigate, because I was due the next week to head out on the Ville de Québec in the parliamentary program Mr. Strahl talked about.
This is a job that comes with very many privileges, but I have to say the greatest I've experienced so far was my time aboard the Ville de Québec with the sailors there. They were all so obliging and answered all of my dumb questions so cheerfully. In fact, they insisted on showing me and my colleague, MP John Rafferty, every square inch of that frigate, so that we understood exactly what it was that was going on there and what everybody did. So it was a wonderful experience, and I have great memories of my time with our sailors aboard the Ville de Québec.
When we were on the Montreal together—and you touched on this again today—you spoke about the global economy and how it floats. I think in the summer you elaborated a little more on the role of the navy in ensuring that the global economy kept moving. When you look at our resources in the Canadian navy, looking forward and contemplating even the new equipment, what's the view as to the deployment of these resources? What percentage or portion of those resources are going to be committed to activities that are all about ensuring that the global economy keeps moving? You talked on the Montreal about some pressure points around the world. Is the plan maybe to participate in some multilateral or cooperative ventures to ensure that some of those pressure points are kept open?