Sir, thank you for the question.
History has taught us that the most likely point of intervention is not always the point that demands the intervention. But let me talk a little bit about the potential for deployment to that region of the world. We've been tracking it very closely for some time.
We maintain readiness to evacuate Canadian citizens all the time. We have aircraft and we have a group of soldiers ready to deploy to assist that. When there is an area of the world where the likelihood of a requirement for Canadian Forces participation in evacuation goes up, then our level of readiness and our level of planning goes up at the same time. I can say that we are tracking this very closely and we remain ready to respond.
I can also say that the Canadian Forces, by virtue of its size, has capacity limitations for major international conflict. We have always looked to partner with allied nations in delivering full military effect in far-flung areas of the world, as we have in Afghanistan and as we did in Libya through NATO. So the question becomes, in a potential or another operation in that part of the world, what type of contribution would be appropriate for Canada?
I can say that across a number of fronts we retain readiness, as we demonstrated in Libya and as we have demonstrated in Afghanistan. We retain readiness to participate in that type of action, but the key questions are: what type of action will it be, what will be the authorization for that action, and what will the government decide in terms of a Canadian contribution?
I can say that as we reconstitute from Afghanistan, we are further capacity-limited than we have been typically—just as we reconstitute the equipment that was in Afghanistan. But I can also say that in an emergency, and particularly here at home, we are ready to deal with any eventuality.