Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone, for coming, particularly in light of such an exciting topic, the national shipbuilding strategy. The Canadian surface combatant program is by far the largest naval procurement in history but also, I would argue, probably the most significant procurement that Canada will do for a generation. It will deliver not only critical combat capability to the navy, but equally, if not more importantly, it will create a significant impact on the Canadian economy.
I certainly don't need to tell you that 20% of the cost is in acquisition and 80% is in in-service support of the life cycle of any program. When we talk about technical benefits or industrial technical benefits, otherwise known as Canadian content, we really do need to talk about the impact of direct Canadian content on the ship itself, not only because it's important to the ship and therefore the technical capability and our sovereignty of that ship, but also in terms of the impact it has on the Canadian economy, not only today but of course through a core competency of a life cycle.
When we talk about that direct Canadian content, we need to know that not all Canadian content is created equally. Certainly electronic warfare, command management, communication systems, underwater radar, and all that kind of stuff is actually the step change. It is something that Canada has been incredibly good at, something that we have a great industry in, and something that obviously is a sovereign requirement.
Could you share with us how we're going to ensure that on this critical procurement for the navy and for Canada, we will have direct Canadian high-tech content?