Welcome, Minister, and welcome to members of your staff, as well. It's good to see you here today answering questions for the committee.
The first question I have, Minister, is in regard to supplementary estimates (B). Can you elaborate on the $7.1 million in additional funding that's going towards protection of the North Atlantic right whales? I understand that the money is being used in part to acquire another Dash 8 airplane for surveillance.
Why did we need this additional capacity? What type of work will they be doing, and how does it serve to protect or help protect the whales?