Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for staying with us.
At the time the national shipbuilding strategy got all-party support, I already had some concerns, and I'm going to restate those. He's tired of hearing me.
The shipbuilding strategy would become a ceiling rather than a floor. At the time, I understood it was the minimum the navy needed, not all the navy ever wanted or might need in the future.
The second point was that there would be competitive bidding for other shipyards outside the strategy to meet other needs of DND, for the smaller vessels like tugs, fireboats, and also for repair, refit, and maintenance. It wasn't that all the work goes to two shipyards and there isn't any other work.
My question is on the procurement side. What's happening with that other work, with the smaller ships, repair and maintenance? Is there work available for the other shipyards to be bidding on at this time?