National Defence committee  It is NORAD, with regard to military aircraft. General Renuart has a mandate for both countries.

National Defence committee  I think that we have to be careful not to try and guess what the Russians' real intentions are. The fact remains that the Russian armed forces went through some lean times over the past few years; their level of training was reduced to a minimum that I would consider almost unacceptable in order to maintain forces in good standing.

National Defence committee  I am not sure I can answer that off the top of my head, but I could certainly get back to you with an answer.

National Defence committee  We have all the tools at our disposal, especially those of NORAD, with our line of radars in the North or across the country, if you will. All those tools are also available to us within Canada.

National Defence committee  Since becoming commander of the Canadian NORAD region, I can say that all activities involved Russians.

National Defence committee  I cannot really talk about things outside the purview of NORAD. In the case at hand, there is nothing else of note.

National Defence committee  I must admit that is outside of my mandate.

National Defence committee  Thank you.

National Defence committee  That is correct, sir.

National Defence committee  No.

National Defence committee  That is correct. Their conduct, professionalism and the fact that they reacted to the warning calls clearly indicate that there was no imminent danger. The flight was similar to many others conducted since August 2007, when Russian strategic aviation activity increased.

National Defence committee  I cannot comment on the minister's statements; that would be inappropriate.

National Defence committee  That might not be the case in terms of distance, but given the speed of the aircraft, that represents a three-minute flight; so it is in terms of time.

National Defence committee  Given the speed of the aircraft, sir, we are talking about a few minutes. In terms of time, I would say that is quite close.

National Defence committee  There were approximately 30 interventions in 2008. These were similar to those that began in August 2007. In fact, the number of flights declined somewhat in 2008 compared to 2007. As well, there were 11 intercepts.