Mr. Speaker, it was obviously a very long question, so I want to address one part of it, and that is our contribution to NATO and our ongoing contribution to NATO.
As hon. members have said, and as we stated in the House, we know the Minister of National Defence has committed to making the much-needed institutional and cultural change at the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, but also to increasing the funds dedicated to our soldiers. We are on target over the next 10 years to increase the annual defence spending by 70%. We remain committed to a number of operations in a number of theatres throughout the world.
On a personal note, the Minister of National Defence is someone who has served our country with extreme professionalism. I thank him for his service and all members of the Canadian Armed Forces for their service day in and day out.