Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses.
Again, as Ms. Kramp-Neuman said, thank you for your patience. What happens in the House happens in the House, and it certainly impacts committee.
I represent the riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour in Nova Scotia. We have large groups of both Canadian Armed Forces members and DND employees. I've heard from DND employees that they have concerns regarding contracting out, and they, in fact, echoed some of the very things you've said, Ms. Carr.
Whether it's at Defence Research and Development Canada or on one of our bases—and Mr. Fillmore represents a base as well—we have so much expertise in-house. I think we can all agree that, whenever possible, we need to invest in our people. We need to invest in our people so we can continue to have and grow that expertise you've spoken about in both CAF and DND.
Ms. Carr, you touched on some specific recommendations, but you had only five minutes. Getting things on the record once or twice in this committee is always helpful when we're studying things like this. What are your specific recommendations or suggestions to the government when it is considering contracting and consulting services and other professional services, especially as all departments are currently conducting exercises to refocus spending? I will give you the bulk of my time.