Thank you very much.
What a pleasure to have you here.
Part of the focus of our NATO study is around the relationship between industry and NATO, and therefore how the government is ensuring that we.... Obviously we don't deliver capability in procurement without industry. We need industry to stay on that bleeding edge of technology. A lot of that bleeding-edge thinking is being done in NATO, and of course there's interoperability and interrelationship with other nations as a result.
I'd like to understand from you the value of the common funding. I'm sure you don't have those stats right here, but I'd like to ask you to get them for our committee. What is the percentage that Canadian industry wins of that common funding on an annual basis? How does that compare with our NATO partners, relative to our contribution?
Then I would like to understand the trend and whether we've been winning more or winning less, and how that trend has been going over time.
With respect to that thinking about how Canadian industry is playing in that space, could you also tell us what the breakout is by industry? In our defence procurement here at home, we know how much is spent on communications, electronics, socks, and so on. I don't know what that industry breakout is, but I'd like a feel for what it is.
With respect to that question, I know we had a NATEX—a NATO technical adviser—with the NATO communications information agency. Certainly the communications information agency is a critical piece in the command and control aspect of procurement and NATO, and Canada has a significant command and control capability. I'd like to understand why we no longer have one, what the thinking behind that was, and how we're ensuring that industry has that liaison or window or information, because of course you can't bid on something if you don't have your man in Havana, so to speak, and we no longer have our NATEX in NCIA in NATO.