Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to address your committee alongside my colleague, Minister Kenney.
I would like to take a few minutes to discuss how the main estimates enable the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence to continue defending the sovereignty and security of Canada.
One of my responsibilities as associate minister of Arctic sovereignty, with the increased activity, commercial shipping, natural resources exploration, and even tourism in the north, along with Russian military activity, makes it ever more critical that National Defence has the right monitoring capabilities and the emergency response options to meet the many current and emerging challenges that we face.
Mr. Chair, last month I visited Operation Nunalivut in Cambridge Bay and the Nunavut area to get a sense of how the military conducts northern operations. I also had the opportunity to visit the Joint Task Force North in Yellowknife, and the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, our eyes and ears in the Arctic.
Mr. Chair, our work in the north to ensure Canada's sovereignty is both impressive and, indeed, vital. Moreover it is critical that National Defence continue to have the right policies and resources in place to protect Canada's northern interests and enable the Canadian Armed Forces to fulfill its responsibilities in this regard.
Another major responsibility of my portfolio is information technology security and foreign signals intelligence, which serve to protect our national security and, of course, our interests. While this might be more abstract, its effects are unequivocally tangible and, indeed, critical. Continual exponential advances in communications technologies are transforming almost every aspect of our lives.
The Communications Security Establishment, CSE, has a vital role in protecting and defending federal government systems from malicious attacks each and every day. National Defence also plays a supporting role and has a great interest in protecting its systems against cyber threats, given the military's reliance on cyberspace to enable its operations, and as we have seen recently, cyberspace is increasingly a prime target for both terrorists and malicious cyber actors.
Mr. Chair, let me be clear. The Government of Canada networks are attacked millions of times every single day, and those numbers will certainly rise. The new reality of modern warfare is here. The digital battleground, as we have witnessed, ranges from recent ISIS cyber attacks to Russian cyber aggression against Ukraine.
Mr. Chair and members, these are just two areas where the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence work hand in hand every day to defend and protect Canadians and our interests. The main estimates are a critical part of ensuring that the necessary funding is in place to enable operations to continue.
I should note for your benefit that one noteworthy item from the main estimates is CSE seeing a year-over-year reduction of nearly $301.6 million. This shrinkage is one time, an exceptional occurrence, as it is the result of payment of $306.7 million for contract costs related to the construction of CSE's headquarters in the year prior.
With that, Mr. Chair and members, I will bring my remarks to a close and I would be happy to take your questions.
Thank you.