Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Admiral Newton and Admiral McDonald, thank you for joining us, for the passion and enthusiasm you have for the Royal Canadian Navy, and of course for the great work you're doing in supporting all the sailors who serve under both of you.
When we last did this study on the defence of North America and looked at the Royal Canadian Navy, there was a lot of talk at that time, about four years ago, about a pivot to the Pacific. The U.S. was going to be more engaged in what was happening in the South China Sea, and we were going to support them in their operations, especially with the proliferation of submarines coming from North Korea, China, and others.
I want to ask you, Admiral McDonald, if you could give us a sense of where you're at with the Pacific fleet and how we are functioning alongside our U.S. partners, both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard who operate along the Alaskan coastline. What is the threat level with those countries that have more submarines and more of an aggressive stance in what they're doing with China, Taiwan, and the geopolitics within the South China Sea? How is that playing out and how is it affecting your operations?