Mr. Chair, I think that the comments the member attributes to me are reflected in my opening statement as well about the urgency of the security situation that we are currently facing. I am concerned that as the threats to the world security situation increase and as the threats at home increase, our readiness is going down within the Canadian Armed Forces.
That is the reason we have embarked on what we're calling reconstitution. Reconstitution is a military operation that is used after a large-scale operation to rebuild, re-arm and re-equip.
The pandemic has not been kind to the Canadian Armed Forces, as our numbers have shrunk. We're embarking on a priority effort to get our numbers back up in recruiting and retention so that we can provide that readiness.
Readiness is more than just people. Readiness is also based on training, equipment and sustainment. We're working in those other three areas as well to make sure that we can provide the readiness that is essential so that we can respond at scale and speed to the needs of Canadians. We have lots of work to do in front of us.