Thank you very much for the question.
Our colleagues at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada could probably give you some specific high level answers. In the broadest economic sense, I will certainly provide you with some answers, from my perspective, on jobs and also on the readiness of Canada's navy.
I have spent 38 years at National Defence looking at maintenance of ships. The availability of industry in Canada, where our ships are understood and where we have the supply chain, is a huge enabler for us to be able to do work. For us, the epitome of this is probably the Canadian patrol frigate. It has provided, from a build in Canada perspective, long-term jobs and long-term work for Canadians and for Canadian companies. It also has provided export opportunities for Canadian companies that did their initial work in the frigates and have become world leaders on integrated platform management systems and other systems of that nature.
From the defence budget perspective and from the operational perspective, I would also say that having these capabilities in Canada ensures that we are actually able to maintain and upgrade these capabilities. It is a huge capability.
As for your question about shipbuilding, enabling that in-service support, although it's different from construction.... The construction and ongoing construction of ships, bringing their systems together and integrating them is really the engine that enables the marine industry in Canada. It is what provides us with that long-term capability. Having that capability in Canada is why I've always been a proponent of build in Canada, not only as a proud Canadian, but as somebody who has to support ships and submarines and other things. If I were to compare it to our efforts to support the Victoria-class submarines, fortunately, I view a capability that's much maligned. They are very capable submarines that we brought to Canada without a supply chain and without, really, the knowledge and expertise to support them. Frankly, it took us 10 years to get ourselves completely organized, and the capability and the reputation suffered the consequences.
For the navy, build in Canada provides a long-term operational benefit and economic benefit. It provides the huge capability that we've seen in many companies. I could name a number of companies that have leveraged the opportunity to help Canada's navy and to also find work abroad.