That's a very good question.
You're right, Ms. Normandin.
Currently in the Canadian Forces, some of the threats to our operational readiness are related to the number of people we have. Everyone in the department is working hard to increase recruitment efforts, to change our policies and to effect a culture change, all of which are contributing to our smaller force size.
The smaller force we are sending for the exercise is offset by the efforts of Canada, which has deployed 2,000 personnel around the world to participate in about 20 missions. That has to be weighed against our strong NATO presence. As you said, the decision to minimize our contribution to Exercise Cold Response was made several months in advance.