Thank you.
Of course, we're in the middle of a perfect storm. The perfect storm is continuing, and the capacity for natural disasters is definitely a concern. The troop strength is relevant to that, in terms of how CAF can help Lentus.
For my first question, section 3.1 of the departmental report states that the “Canadian Armed Forces is growing towards its end state of 101,500 personnel”, yet the results achieved paint a very different picture. In every single performance indicator, percentages have dropped year after year. The force establishment is down 5%; reserve forces are down 5%, and the percentage of occupations with critical shortfalls is up a staggering 20%. Even the footnotes come right out and say that the department, under your leadership, cannot compete with the labour market or attract talent.
Why is this, and why is it that year after year your government has not only failed to reverse the recruitment and retention crisis, but statistically, it's showing even worse?