Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for your testimony this afternoon.
Dr. Bland, I appreciated your history lesson in terms of the pitfalls that many a former prime minister and former minister of national defence has discovered when they've tried to find efficiencies, as they call them, in the Canadian Forces budget.
As you've indicated, when General Leslie spoke to the different parts of the Canadian Forces, every one of them was essential to the continued operation and to continuing to meet the goals and core capability requirements. You had similar comments about your predictions of what may be included in the upcoming budget and what effect that would have on the core capabilities of the Canadian Forces.
I guess I understand that perspective. Certainly as a Conservative, having been part of a government that has invested significantly in the armed forces, I understand that perspective.
On the other hand, my constituents tell me from time to time that certainly in an organization that has a $20-billion annual budget, surely not every dollar spent there can be sacrosanct. As a government, how do we find that balance with regard to the concern for readiness and wanting to ensure that the core capabilities of the Canadian Forces are maintained? How do you maintain that perspective while at the same time wanting to be able to find, in such a massive organization, inefficiencies? Surely we can do both.