In the letter the 23 senators wrote to the Prime Minister last week, I noted one thing they did not acknowledge but that I think is important. I was down in Washington two weeks ago, where I met with the Secretary of Defense and a number of other legislators. When we talked about Canada's new investment in defence, I think they were very encouraged by it. In particular—and I don't like to quote him as he speaks well for himself—the commander of NORAD has talked a lot, and very publicly, about the nearly $40 billion Canada is investing in NORAD modernization and the acquisition of new capabilities and new capital equipment as part of that. Frankly, with the introduction of our new defence policy, again, he was very supportive and even complimentary of the work we are doing.
It's important as well that we acknowledge in our own defence policy update that we're doing a great deal. We have more to do and we're going to do more, but when you're spending taxpayer dollars, you have to do it right and do it well, and that means giving the Canadian Armed Forces the opportunity and the time to define their requirements and work through our rigorous but necessary procurement processes to get the best value for Canadian tax dollars.
As I said, we're increasing our defence spending by 27% next year. It's going to be really challenging for us to spend that money well, but we're absolutely committed to doing it.