Thank you very much, sir, and let me begin by thanking you for your stellar career in uniform. You've referenced the fact that these were some of the proudest days of your life.
I think it's fair to say that the esprit de corps and the overall morale of our men and women in uniform has increased substantially in recent years. That is in large part a result of the recognition that is being expressed across the country in very public organized events, such as red rallies and yellow ribbon campaigns, sports and community appreciations, or even, tragically, the Highway of Heroes.
In terms of the high tempo of operations in Afghanistan, which you've referenced, while we are no longer involved in combat in Afghanistan we continue to play a significant role in training. This is at the very essence of what soldiers do. They want to be active. They want to go places. They want to make a difference in the world, as I'm sure you did during your career.
I also want to highlight something you alluded to and it is that the face of the Canadian Forces has changed significantly. It is reflective of the multicultural nature of our country. I've attended many events where soldiers, sailors, and airmen and airwomen are on parade, and I've attended many cadet functions, which is a similar reflection of the fact that we have a very diverse Canadian Forces. We have people who have come from, in many cases, war-torn countries to Canada and some of their proudest and greatest contributions have come through the Canadian Forces. They have made the decision to serve in uniform, as you did.
With respect to your question about recruiting, we have in many cases far exceeded our numbers, partly as a reflection of the higher profile that the Canadian Forces have played in recent years. I am confident in saying they are among the most respected institutions in our country today, if not the most respected. The active recruiting effort that was put forward by the Department of National Defence, which included ads you would have seen on national television and movie theatres, was a very active recruiting effort that brought a lot of attention and brought a lot of people into the various trades.
Having said that, we're ahead of time and pace as far as recruitment is concerned. There are certain pressures in certain trades, stress trades they call them, where we do still very much need people coming into uniform and coming into the forces. But we're at a posture of about 68,000 in the regular force and just under 27,000 reservists. So we're ahead of pace in terms of the Canada First defence strategy, and the numbers and projections we had put forward.
As you would know, we have to keep that in balance with our infrastructure, our training facilities, our equipment, and the readiness posture. So all of those are factors we have to continually weigh.
Your question about the Arctic is a very good one, because you're right to highlight the fact that we've made a decision as a government to concentrate on the Arctic. The Canadian Forces play a major part with the whole-of-government partners in increasing the footprint in the Arctic. A big part of that are the Canadian Rangers and the Junior Canadian Rangers program. They are a significant part of the Canadian Forces in terms of our presence and operations there. We carry out annual operations. There is Operation Nunalivut, which is happening in just a few weeks, and Operation Nanook is another exercise that goes on annually. We've actually invited, in some cases, countries like Norway and the United States to participate.
There is, in fact, in the supplementary estimates (C), $14.5 million for one of these operations, which involves the presence of Arctic ships and personnel, and a sovereignty exercise that takes place.
I believe you had a question, as well, with respect to simply the leadership and the success of our Canadian Forces in places like Afghanistan and Haiti. That I would put down very much to the professionalism and the training that prepares our Canadian Forces for whatever may come. Haiti was a good example of something that nobody had expected. It was, of course, in response to an earthquake and the aftermath and dealing with human suffering.
With our Canadian Forces we were among the first countries to arrive with boots on the ground, setting up a Role 3 hospital, providing water and food and medical treatment, and helping to clear the rubble and rescue people, who were still very much in jeopardy.
It shows the diversity and the ability to react to circumstances. That, I think, has been one of the hallmarks of the Canadian Forces—their adaptability, their professionalism, and their desire to make a positive difference in the world.
