Government Operations committee  I can't give you a firm answer on your costs yet. Those discussions are ongoing. But the logic behind the AOPS for Coast Guard is minimal design changes, because the value there is around delivering ships to the Coast Guard quickly. If you were to do a major design overhaul, I think you would have questions about schedules.

Government Operations committee  That's the value of the AOPS to Coast Guard: it ships quickly.

Government Operations committee  A start date...? We're in a phase right now, Mr. Chair, of working on finalizing the design over the next three to four years. We're hoping to start to build in early 2025. Was that right, André? You can—

Government Operations committee  Sorry, I misread my notes. They say “early 2020”, not “early 2025”, so there you go.

Government Operations committee  My understanding of dates, at their current stage, Mr. Chair, is that 2023 and 2025 are the two dates that are in play. For costing, I'll have to turn to my colleague André, or maybe you'll give us 30 seconds.

Government Operations committee  The Government of Canada has a build in Canada policy, so that's what we're working with.

Government Operations committee  All options are on the table.

Government Operations committee  Well, all options are on the table, but there's a build in Canada policy in play.

Government Operations committee  This has been a longstanding question around the technology available basically to avoid travel when you can. Can you attend or participate in meetings virtually, versus hopping on a plane and travelling? There has been significant work, I think, to upgrade the facilities to allow virtual conferencing.

Government Operations committee  The e-procurement system is a really important system for the department and for the whole of government. This is a contract that is under way with Infosys as a prime contractor. It's basically to put an off-the-shelf tool in the hands of public servants to allow them to do the basic end of procurement themselves.

Government Operations committee  The shipbuilding strategy is now at a stage where you have certainty on the east coast in terms of what is being built. You have AOPS 1 through 8 all being delivered and planned as we speak, and then they will transition into building the surface combatants. They have a nice long run of ships they can predictably deliver, and they can manage their workforce accordingly.

Government Operations committee  I can start and André can correct me if I misspeak. The polar icebreaker is a one-ship build. It's an extraordinarily complicated build and basically the most complicated build we have in the package. We are revisiting options around the polar, so no decision has been made as to where it will be built.

Government Operations committee  We are not in active discussion to my knowledge—again, André, chime in—but....

Government Operations committee  We don't have a time frame at this stage.

Government Operations committee  I suspect the former: six months.