Mr. Chair, we are working with the budget that has been given to us right now, so I have no indication whether we're going to have an increase or a decrease. The army gets its fair allocation of that budget, and I have to work within that budget, but there are different allotments of money for different programs.
Procurement is certainly a program that provides a lot of money, not just to the army but also to the Canadian Forces, which we have to prioritize. In the short term, we are committed to using what we refer to as the minor capital program to address some of the pressing issues for the reserve unit.
I'd like to make a point here with regard to the reserve unit. Priority will always be given to those units that have a responsive role, and I refer here to those territorial battalion groups.
Reserve units, as you know, as a rule do not operate as units. They will operate as part of an amalgamation of units or subunits to create one of these as a territorial battalion group, and we have to make sure that this territorial battalion group will have the necessary equipment to be able to perform its task. When we feel they don't have the necessary equipment, equipment will be pooled from the various brigades to give those units priority. That's what has been done in the past and that's what will continue to be done in the future.
But as was pointed out by the Auditor General, we have to do better in making sure that all of the units have at least the minimum requirement for vehicles and minimum requirement for communications, and this is part of our action plan to take account of what all of the units have at this point. That will need to be dealt with according to priority along with the other competing resources.