Public Accounts committee  I can't speak to that specific airport or the various airstrips that are there, but we do have a plan that is based on—

Public Accounts committee  In the past few years the department has focused on airport infrastructure, including northern airports and facilities and the rehabilitation of runways. We acknowledge that air is the only link into many of these communities. Substantial investments have been made in rehabilitating infrastructure.

Public Accounts committee  The department has its own aircraft services, and as part of the operation of those aircraft services, we have a fleet of Dash 7s as well as Dash 8s. What we've done is we've procured a level of inventory of spare parts to ensure that those Dash 7s remain in service—to extend the useful life and to minimize downtime over the next few years until a replacement can be chosen.

Public Accounts committee  It is getting harder, but over the fall and winter we have executed a procurement process for that, and our indications are that we will have the required inventory to maintain those planes.

Public Accounts committee  We are concluding the process of procuring that. We should take delivery later this year. Once we have procurement, there is work we need to do to equip it with the sensors we currently have on the Dash 7 aircraft. The RPAS will provide a complement to aerial surveillance. There are fewer restrictions in terms of the number of hours an RPAS can fly compared with a manned aircraft.

Public Accounts committee  We finalized the design of the hangar and accommodations. It is going to procurement later this month, before the end of this current fiscal year, with, hopefully, construction by late summer or spring, given the construction season there. It will do a couple of things for us. Having a hangar there will allow us to use our aircraft as well as the RPAS for extended periods of time.

Public Accounts committee  We are hoping by fiscal year 2024-25.

Public Accounts committee  Sure. I'll start. The report identifies gaps, and there have been actions taken within the department to address those gaps, firstly with respect to situational awareness and the information sharing, as well as on the aircraft, as you stated. First, with respect to some of the gaps, one of the first actions of the department was reviewing the working group.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for inviting us to be here with you this morning. As the new deputy minister of transport, marine safety and security of Canada's Arctic waters is one of my top priorities. The Government of Canada agrees with the findings and recommendations in the Auditor General's report related to the surveillance of Arctic waters and will take steps to address them.