Mr. Speaker, with the serious delays in the naval strategy and the decommissioning of the Preserver and the Protecteur, even the Minister of National Defence recognizes that there is a serious operational gap. His parliamentary secretary has called for the Obelix. It says in the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the minister and on page 35 of the Liberal defence policy that the minister must maintain the capacity of the deep-sea fleet. We need two ships: the Asterix and the Obelix.
When will the Prime Minister make national security a top priority and ask the Davie shipyard to build the Obelix? Will he do so before the holidays?