Thank you very, Chair. Through you, to the witnesses, thank you for coming this morning.
I just have to put a plug in for my navy league and HMCS Skeena and the group of young folks there. It's heresy in my riding to say this because we're basically an air force riding, but those young people can really put on a good show when they're graduating in other areas.
My questions are about recruiting. I guess before you can do all the good things that you've said you've been able to do, and what you'd like to do, you need people to do them. You used a hockey analogy, so I'll use one too: you don't go where the puck is, but you go where you think the puck is going to be. Using that analogy, I do recall reading a little bit of history about this—and, of course, last year was the 100th anniversary of the navy. During the Second World War there were often a lot of folks from the Prairies who joined the navy. We seemed to attract a lot of people from places where you wouldn't normally think people would consider a maritime or navy career. So I wonder if you could talk about what challenges you have today with regard to recruiting.
I notice from our readiness studies that there is a great need in the RCN for specific trades, because upon them lies your ability to do many of the things you want to do. I wonder if you would want to talk about the group of people who you traditionally draw upon, and where you think the future lies or the groups of people, the type of people, whom you like to draw on, and specifically the challenges that you're facing with regard to recruiting the people you want.