Thank you, Chair.
A PBO report on progress under Canada's defence policy “Strong, Secure, Engaged” noted delays in capital spending and a shift in expenditure to later years. This shift is expected to mean that project costs will be higher than initially projected. At the same time, a recent DND internal audit noted a large portion of unfilled positions for procurement professionals and noted competition with the private sector as a main driver.
In your opinion, sir, could spending more on ensuring that National Defence has the capacity it needs actually save us money in the long term by helping to avoid project delays that lead to these cost increases?