Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I do not have the answer at this time. As I stated, I am happy to get the answers. On the National Research Council review, I am trying to see if it is even within our mandate. If it is, I am happy to answer these questions in detail, and any other questions that she might have that require a level of detail that is beyond the committee at this time.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I am assuming the member is talking about the Auroras. We are expecting them in 2019.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I do not keep track of the number of pilots. We have a recruiting system that looks at all aspects of pilots, infantry, armoured, and all the different trades. Perhaps the member did not get my memo where I opened up my office for these types of questions. Other members of the member's party have already taken advantage of this.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, when it comes to the retention strategy, retention is an ongoing thing. It is not about a certain strategy that is implemented by the wider government. This is something that is done regularly within every single unit. The chain of command looks at it across the board, whether it is from the regular force or the reserves.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, if the member wants to get into the details of it, I will give her my example of when I was a commanding officer. When it comes to retention, what we require is challenging training. We need a chain of command that is engaged. Reserves are not like the regular force.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, that is a very specific question, and I do not have the answer off hand. I am happy to get the answer for the member. In fact, I can give the member a much wider perspective on the search and rescue aspect of all our aircraft.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I am happy to answer a lot of these questions, but I cannot answer the member's questions because these are extremely detailed questions that require some more research. If the member has these types of questions as part of this, I am happy to discuss generally a lot of the work that they do.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, there was a difficulty when it came to our fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft. I was advised that in the past it was challenged because of the procurement, but it is now back on track and we are getting to a phase where the process is moving along. We are committed to replacing these aircraft as quickly as possible.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, when it comes to search and rescue, it is not just about the aircraft. There is a far greater system in place. I am happy to answer in detail about these things, if we want to talk entirely about search and rescue. It is aircraft, it is some of our helicopters, and it is our personnel.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I do not have the detailed answer. It seems like the member came with a list of questions, trying to ask certain things that I cannot answer. However, as the member knows, and the member who is sitting next to her knows also, my office is always open. If these questions are urgent to you, I could have answered these questions in much more detail at any time.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, there is a considerable amount of training that happens, and I will give an example from B.C. There is an exercise that the province has taken on for emergency preparedness in Port Alberni, in which we will be taking part. We also work very closely with some of the heavier search and rescue teams where they have trained some of our members on light urban search and rescue.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the department works quite seamlessly with the various agencies. We have members who are actually posted within the provincial emergency units. Each province has that, but we also work within the various departments ensuring we have the right level of response. It depends on the level of emergency.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, when it comes to the defence of Canada, our number one priority is the security of Canadians. We do now a number of things now, for example, our Canadian Joint Operations Command, our binational relationship with NORAD, and also our Special Operations Command. As we launch our defence review, we will be looking at ensuring we have the right command structure and the right capabilities that meet the needs of the current threats, but more important, the threats of the future as well.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, it is one of the questions we have had, especially as we have our consultations across Canada. This is a discussion that we do bring up and there are various experts members who provide their advice. I also want to point out, which is very important, that the reserve units and leaderships themselves have an opportunity to present their facts through the chain of command.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I actually recently visited the operation centre. I was thoroughly impressed with the response. A lot of the contributions we have made have already been outlined. I would like to highlight the relationship that the joint task force west, the commander and some their staff actually had with the province.