Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Williamson, as you know this is the largest peacetime shipbuilding program in the history of the Canadian military, with some $36 billion committed through our accrual budget to acquire a new fleet of very modern service combatant ships to replace our Halifax-class frigates, as well as the Arctic offshore patrol ships, the new joint supply ships, and other vessels. I'm pleased to say we're moving forward on all fronts. I understand that Irving shipyard in Halifax is getting close to being prepared to cut steel later this year on the hulls for the Arctic offshore patrol ships, so we'll see tangible progress.
I think some people would ask, “Why can't we get all these ships right away?” There's a reason for that. When you're dealing with a procurement this large, you want to stage it intelligently over time so you don't end up ramping up a huge capacity in the shipbuilding industry just to see it crash back down. We want to spread this out intelligently over time, manage the costs, and maintain the capability. The plan is that as soon as the AOPs—our Arctic offshore patrol ships—are finished out of the Irving shipyard, the yards will then be able to move forward to begin production of the new service combatant vessels. In the meantime out in the Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver, we're working closely with that shipyard on the icebreakers. With the supply ships, which are scheduled to come on line in 2019, we and Public Works are working very closely with the vendors. I hope that answers your question.