National Defence committee  If I may, I'd pile on one more. We all have these experiences we've taken part in. Much along the lines of Ms. Alleslev's question, interoperability is absolutely key. I had the opportunity to be the commander of the air task force during the Libyan war. We arrived, and our fighters arrived, and 48 hours later they were operating over Libya.

National Defence committee  I would encourage you to build a strong narrative—we as Canadians to build a strong narrative—for Canada on what NATO does, what we get from NATO, what NATO contributes, and how we contribute to NATO. The hashtag #WeAreNATO is one tool through which we can actually communicate with Canadians.

National Defence committee  Perhaps I can address that. In fact, it very much aligns with Ms. Blaney's question about educating the youth in Canada, because we need to educate Canadians. I would start small, I guess, and then get a little larger. One of the recent examples that I've had is to participate in Carleton University's Model NATO.

National Defence committee  I can start off and then perhaps pass to my colleagues. There is a specific methodology within NATO for both defence expenditures and equipment required. The allies have to report their expenditures annually through a standard process that we have. It really hasn't changed since about the 1950s.

National Defence committee  Sorry. I misinterpreted your question. I thought you were talking about the equipment that we actually procure. In this area, I would comment that it's a negotiation. When Canada volunteered to become a framework nation in Latvia, per your example, we determined—of course through our normal processes—what capabilities and numbers we were able to bring to the fight, to the operation, that would meet our budgetary restrictions and our personnel and equipment resources.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. To be honest with you, I'm not in a position to comment on the Royal Canadian Air Force's situation right now.

National Defence committee  All I can say is that, within our new defence policy, in SSC, we've made the commitment to work towards a fighter replacement to fill all of our security requirements. In the interim, as you're very aware, we're moving toward the purchase of some F-18s from Australia that will fill that gap.

National Defence committee  Perhaps I can respond. I'm not within the operational realm, but as General Seymour mentioned, we're not conducting NATO exercises within the Pacific region. What I can say is that NATO, and the alliance, and individual countries have recognized the threat from DPRK. I can say that the threat is recognized as not just directed at the United States.

National Defence committee  Thank you. I would just add on to General Meinzinger's response. There's no doubt, and it's recognized within NATO, that the post-conflict reconstruction is absolutely a key element of the overall re-establishment of a peaceful international community. We've seen the results when those positive reconstruction steps have not occurred.

National Defence committee  I would say that, yes, there are opportunities for improvement. We, of course, have a common objective between the UN and NATO to work towards a peaceful international situation, but I think the UN has a specific role and NATO has taken a specific role as well. The UN works towards improvement of the peaceful situation within Iraq, and certainly NATO has taken the approach of capacity building for the Iraqi forces.

National Defence committee  I would just add that in the context of the discussion this morning, a strong, cohesive, vibrant NATO is a big piece of the puzzle in terms of deterrence and assuring ourselves that as adversaries look at us and contemplate actions, they have to take notice of NATO as an extremely powerful alliance.

National Defence committee  That's a great question. I'm not familiar with the example that you're using, sir. What I would comment on is the fact that we're aware that Russia is using hybrid warfare. They're using hybrid warfare, not in just certain countries, they're using hybrid warfare across the alliance and in fact, across the world where it suits their purposed.

National Defence committee  If I may just add to that. Obviously Turkey is a longstanding ally and friend to Canada and we're part of the alliance and will continue to be part of the alliance. With respect to interoperability it's more than just equipment. We have a vast array of fighter type aircraft ships etc. and we work towards a common NATO standard with respect to areas that are of key concern for interoperability, and we work through those through the exercises and operations that General Meinzinger was talking about.

National Defence committee  It is possible that could be the way that any kind of operation would evolve. I would just highlight right now in fact that we already have Russian equipment being used by NATO allies. Some of the eastern European nations actually use Russian equipment at this point and they do participate in our exercises and operations.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Coming back to the hybrid warfare question, I want to pass on that within NATO there has very much been a focus on hybrid warfare, particularly in light of the increasing threat that we're seeing from Russia. To give you a sense, they have developed a new hybrid strategy to counter hybrid threats.