Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to clarify something so that the committee understands it. Defence spending fell to less than 1% under the previous Conservative government. We've doubled that since that time. In fact, the plan is.... We've consistently increased the defence spending. From $18 billion in 2016-17, it's going to achieve $40 billion in 2026-27. We're the seventh-largest member of NATO. We have the seventh-largest spend in NATO. I just wanted to make sure that the committee and our guests understand that.
Coming back to our panellists, it's lovely to see you again. Thank you for being with us.
I want to turn my mind to ITBs and carry that on. Of course, we know the government has many obligations, and defence is one of them, but growing the economy and creating jobs is another one that we take very seriously. We try to find the confluence of defence procurement and the economy through ITBs. Several witnesses during the study so far have identified that the ITB policy doesn't really succeed in achieving what it's setting out to do, or rather complicates or makes the process less efficient.
Here comes Halifax, Mr. Chair. More than a decade ago, I was involved, with many others, in an advocacy program to win the shipbuilding procurement strategy in Halifax. Today, we have 2,000 shipbuilders working on the Halifax waterfront. We're heading north to 3,000 as we switch to CSCs. We've managed to bring in training programs for women, for indigenous shipbuilders and for Black shipbuilders. Clearly, there's an enormous domestic impact that comes through the ITBs.
You both represent large organizations. I want to get a sense of your position, I guess, on whether it's reasonable to continue in some way with the ITB program through an industrial policy, for example. First of all, let's start with this question: How do you feel about ITBs?