Thank you very much, Chair.
I'd like to welcome Mr. Giroux and his colleagues.
I'm joining you from sunny Halifax today, home of the east coast navy, the 5th Canadian Division of the Canadian Army and 12 Wing Shearwater. It's a good Canadian Armed Forces town, so I'm pleased to be joining you from here today.
I want to acknowledge that an undertaking like the model you've built is no easy task, and certainly not for an institution as vast as the CAF, so by its nature we know that this force structure model is but a snapshot. For example, what I mean by this is that one of the assumptions in the model has estimates that reflect a steady-state cost. It assumes the military will continue to operate in a similar manner in the next six years as it has in the past six years that are in the data in the report.
However, it's just not clear to me how we can use a model like this to understand the emergence of new threat environments and new operations in new theatres, like the Indo-Pacific or Ukraine or, now, Israel-Gaza, nor is it clear to me how we can use the model to understand new and emerging CAF needs, like the emphasis on culture change or more costs in recruitment, retention and infrastructure needs, as examples. I wonder if you could tell me to what extent you believe this model accurately and effectively accounts for the complexities in the modern Canadian Armed Forces and in the DND as it stands today.