Admiral Newton, if you're happy, I'll just pick up on the second part of the question as I go on.
Thank you for the opportunity to add on to the framework that Admiral Newton has already established. Casting economic sanctions in terms of what we would call, at sea, maritime interdiction—economic sanctions are just one of the potential political outcomes that could come out of maritime interdiction—Admiral Newton has reviewed that Canada, particularly since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, has been significantly engaged in maritime interdiction operations, some of them economic sanctions, some of them humanitarian.
I myself was involved in humanitarian operations, as part of a UN mandate, against Iraq in the days of Saddam Hussein's power. Thereafter, less than a decade on, I was engaged in maritime interdiction operations again, leadership interdiction operations against the Taliban as we were conducting our operations in Afghanistan.
Maritime interdiction is a routine mission profile for the Canadian navy and for our allies. We are well equipped for this kind of mission, because we have warships with broad, multi-purpose combat capability, allowing us to engage in a full spectrum of operations. Sanctions operations are full-spectrum operations. You need to be able to go and interact at a very low level with mariners, conduct boarding operations, in which Canada is one of the leading capable nations in the world, and ensure that you have full awareness of what is being passed on the sea and how. As Admiral Newton highlighted, that will not always be well received by nations that are under sanctions, so you need to be well prepared to defend yourself in what could be a rapidly escalating circumstance. Therefore, the Canadian navy, like our allies, has always insisted that we place very capable but multi-purpose ships when in harm's way conducting these kinds of important operations.
I should add as well, if I can, that working with allies is very important in this regard, not only to maintain and build the pattern of life in potential areas of operations. Sanctions are rarely something that a single country does alone, so developing a multinational capability is critical, and something that Canada obviously is always invested in.
Thank you.