Mr. Chair, the demand is going up. We've seen a doubling every five years, over the last decade and a half, in requests for assistance in responding to natural disasters. The frequency and intensity of natural disasters, I think you'll all agree, are on the increase. What is missing is capacity. I believe the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to be called upon.
What we need to be, truly, is a force of last resort. What we need is to get intermediate capacity at the municipal and provincial levels drawn upon first. What we provide, for the most part, is a self-contained, self-deploying, self-sustaining and self-disciplining labour force with its own inherent command and control. It's a nice, tidy package that shows up. However, it's expensive. We train for the worst of situations—high-end combat. If that capability is used for much lower and more frequent business, it's not economically viable. Take a look at the world security situation, which is deteriorating around us. The demand signal for those primary tasks we're responsible for is only increasing. However, our readiness to do that is decreasing, due in part to the incessant demand for these types of domestic operations.
We're going to continue to be called upon. Let's do it as a true force of last resort.