Mr. Chair, thank you for the question.
The 29,000 number is the establishment, as we call it, of filling out every single one of our units. The exhibit diagram in the Auditor General's report lays out the 21,000 number. That is the number we're funded to, and it is the reality of where we were in recent history in size of units and based on the demographics of Canada.
We're looking very hard at this additional growth, which will be a challenge for us, but we will always have to train a specific number of soldiers in basic training and that is where the fairly substantial gap is, close to 4,000.
That's the break between the 18,000 and this 14,000 number. The reality of what we need to meet the needs of Canada in the future, we still want to keep the establishments where they are. I don't think funding that would even be close to realistic today. That's not where we are today. That's what we're here talking about. That additional 8,000 on our establishment is if the need is there to grow in a very rapid fashion, based on the world situation, that we have that flexibility. That's the way to put it.