Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, it's good to see you and your officials here today.
I see that DND is requesting $652 million for the “Funding for the sustainment and operational readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces, in support of the ongoing implementation of the Canada First Defence Strategy”. The supplementary estimates (B) note that DND will use these funds mainly to:
...support operational readiness for Maritime, Land and Aerospace efforts. This includes incremental operational and sustainment requirements of Chinook 147’s, fleet maintenance of the submarines, frigates, aircraft and light armoured vehicles, infrastructure maintenance and repair, as well as training and personnel support.
Could you explain why base funds provided to the main estimates are not sufficient to cover CAF readiness, particularly training as well as equipment infrastructure maintenance and repair, and why more funds are required for this purpose today?