Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
We've been speaking at a very high strategic level, and I want to take us some place that may seem quite small in comparison.
We've just seen that the government has decided to decommission and perhaps divest the Canadian Forces auxiliary vessel Quest. The Canadian navy will no longer have its own research vessel to do acoustic and sonar research. I see this as a general decline in the capabilities of the navy.
I would like an opinion from each of you on whether the capacities to do this kind of research are central to the navy and how we can survive if we don't have our own research ship.
I'll start with Professor Lerhe.