Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for your expertise and your perspective and for sharing them with us.
I represent Dartmouth—Cole Harbour in the greater Halifax area, so I was interested in Mr. Spengemann's comments about the economic impact and the multiplier. You say that the multiplier is $1.3 million, but when I stretch it out and I start thinking all the way from college courses at Nova Scotia Community College to a haircut, a movie ticket, and a bag of groceries at the Sobeys, it seems to me that the defence spending in those communities allows them to have an insulation when there's a tough time in the economy. It seems to be a much higher.... I'd be interested in more discussion someday down the road on what that multiplier actually is when you break it down to that base of what people are spending in the community.
I was really interested in what you said about the perspective. I have to say that I'm guilty of this. You said that 50% of shipbuilding is in the platform and the technology. I've been to the steel-cutting factory twice and I've been to assembly hall three times, and I fell right into that. I see progress when I see hulls and steel-cutting.