Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am pleased to be here today to discuss the progress made on the various recommendations stemming from the Auditor General's status report and ongoing challenges.
As mentioned by Ms. Morin, the government has made significant strides since 2004 towards a more integrated approach among agencies within the security and intelligence community.
In addition to the elements Madam Morin mentioned, the creation of the Government Operations Centre has improved the level of coordination. It allows for more effective and coordinated responses across all departments and agencies of the federal government, and as well enhances coordination with provinces and municipalities for issues as they arrive, including issues as diverse as natural disasters, such as recent flooding in Manitoba, pandemics, such as the recent outbreak of H1N1, or indeed any acts rooted in terrorism and extremism.
The security and intelligence community has worked collectively over the past two years to address all of the issues raised in the Auditor General's report. For example, through the committee structure established by the Privy Council Office, we now share and review post-exercise reports and recommendations with interested departments and agencies. We also now together review lessons learned from major events to help us better manage future events.
In terms of our approach to interoperability, we have shifted our focus to a more pragmatic, project-based approach aimed at enhancing information-sharing across the public safety and security community. Examples of such projects include the secret communications interoperability project and working with Canada's first-responder community in support of advancing interoperable radio and voice communications.
There remain very significant challenges as our risk environment evolves. While we are pleased with the progress made to date, we recognize that there is a need for further work in some areas.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would pleased to respond to the questions of committee members.