Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, welcome back to committee. I appreciate your appearing on this topic.
General Eyre, please pass on to all the troops our gratitude from the Conservatives and indeed from all Canadians for the work our soldiers do on Operation Lentus. Probably the biggest interaction Canadians ever have with our men and women serving in uniform is when they're out there sandbagging and fighting fires and dealing with natural disasters across this country. We all appreciate having that support and that type of commitment from the Canadian Armed Forces.
Minister Blair, you said in your final comments there that you want to make sure you continue to support our troops, yet, last time you appeared at this committee, you announced a $1-billion cut to the Canadian Armed Forces. How will it impact the operations to support Operation Lentus and other deployments of the Canadian Armed Forces when you don't have the money to actually carry it out?