Thank you very much.
First, I'd say that when you said civilian it made me think about the public servants who are such an important part of the navy. I'm not only talking about the folks here in Ottawa, but really the fleet maintenance facilities in Esquimalt and Halifax, those civilian workers have a far larger effect for the navy than I think you would see on the air force or army side. These workers are actually critical in enabling the technical readiness of our ships and submarines to go to sea. So when I talk about the defence team in the navy, it's regular force, reserve force, and very much civilians who are the members of the team.
With respect to strategic engagement, we have about 20 honorary captains in the navy, all of whom have volunteered for what they see as an honour. They come from all political sides, from corporate leadership, and from academic leadership, and what they do for us is to act as ambassadors. They energize and activate their lines of influence, and whenever they have an opportunity, they will speak, like the chief or I do, to whatever gathering they're with. It's simply to bring that message forward and to bring feedback to me about ways in which I could better engage with Canadians.
True Patriot Love is a great example of an organization that recently held what was called the Atlantic Maple Leaf Dinner in Halifax. It raised $700,000 for the Soldier On program for our families as well. We couldn't imagine this kind of initiative and leadership by the corporate and public sectors or private citizens 20 years ago. For folks like Chief Laurendeau—and, again, here I recall the recognition of the Forces in the Senate two weeks ago—this sends an incredibly strong signal about the new relationship based on respect and trust between Canadians and their Canadian Forces.