Thank you very much.
You know, when you come into a new job, you do spend a bit of time reflecting on what you can bring to the position. I was very humbled and honoured to be asked to assume this position as chief of CSE. With regard to my reflections, I guess I would highlight a couple of my experiences and the background that I hope will help me in this position and will help me advance the objectives of the organization.
First of all, I come from an analytical background. I have a master's degree in operational research and feel very comfortable when dealing with analytical issues. I think that will serve me well given the type of work we do at CSE and given a lot of the types of employees that we have at CSE.
Second, I reflected on the fact that I have been a chief information officer or have had responsibilities in terms of being a chief information officer in three different federal government departments: the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and also the Canada Border Services Agency, all organizations for which information and technology are very important.
When I think about the work of the Canada Border Services Agency or Foreign Affairs, the security of information was very important from a Foreign Affairs perspective in regard to how we ensured that the information for all of our embassies abroad and the people who were serving abroad was available and was protected. Being a chief information officer I think will serve me well in understanding the important cyber-defence role that we play at CSE.
As you pointed out, I've also worked in a number of departments that have an international background or flavour, such as Foreign Affairs, of course, and also the Canadian International Development Agency, which has an international focus. What was interesting there is that in this committee, your committee, I was able to see the work of the Canadian Armed Forces along with that of development experts coming together to deal with some very important humanitarian issues.
My work on the Afghanistan task force when I was at the Privy Council office was a very important role, and one I took very seriously. It was also an opportunity to see what it was like being on the client end of the work of the Communications Security Establishment and dealing with international issues.
Finally, reflecting on this, I have had a number of different types of management and leadership responsibilities, some in large organizations like the Border Services Agency and Foreign Affairs, and smaller ones in terms of the Afghanistan task force, which is really a whole-of-government task force. I think the diversity of those leadership and management experiences will serve me well in this position at the Communications Security Establishment.