Mr. Chair, thank you very much.
Dr. Cormier and Dr. Cowan, thank you for being with us this afternoon.
I would like to start with an area we touched on but did not dive into with an in-depth assessment. That is the question of work satisfaction and the work environment.
A number of years ago, members of this committee had occasion to travel to Mali to look at the Canadian Forces' contribution to MINUSMA and the air medical evacuation mechanism, which is a state-of-the-art example. We had a crew of physicians and health care workers in the armed forces staffing the Chinook helicopters. There was extraordinary work and innovation with respect to bringing plasma further into the field, which results in a much higher survival rate for members of that mission who may come into peril.
How important is the work environment to retention? Could you talk a bit about the components of the work environment? I'm thinking specifically about training, including very complex multilateral and multinational training. How much of that is part of work satisfaction? In addition, could you comment briefly on overseas deployments?
I ask either or both of the witnesses.