Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Forster, I'm glad that you mentioned the need for value for money, flexibility, and economic benefits to Canadians. The part on economic benefits to Canadians is the one that I'm interested in.
I'm also glad to note that you're talking of the federal government and how they can leverage their collective resources. With regard to that, the Canadian defence industry is quite strong. We have 63,000 employees in this sector, and 44% of them are in Ontario. The pay earned by the defence company workers is about 60% higher than comparable jobs elsewhere. Sixty per cent of the defence company's revenues are through export.
What you are doing to commercialize the hundreds of millions of dollars we have invested in DRDC? The Canada First defence strategy talks about the ongoing collaboration between the defence department and the industry. We also know that the Canadian defence budget during the next 20 years is higher than the oil sands capital investment. Oil was rolling at about $100 per barrel.
We are investing quite a large amount in Canadian defence. How can we use that investment in the defence budget to stimulate economic growth? Specifically on DRDC, with the technologies that are being developed, how are we commercializing them?