National Defence committee  Okay.

National Defence committee  Thanks, Minister. I can't speak to the opinions of those who are defence experts, but I'm one, too—

National Defence committee  —and I have 100,000 of them. What I would tell you is that, as the minister has said, the option for the Super Hornet is still open. They're a bad partner now. Maybe they would become a good partner again. I'd like to state on the record, though, to make it very plain to you and to the chair, the problem around the capability gap is a function of the fact that inherent in the defence policy is a commitment to our being able to conduct operations globally against the emerging threats that we face.

National Defence committee  The short answer is yes. Your premise is one that I don't entirely agree with. I think that not being open about your personal mental health challenges is prevalent within society. In fact, I think what we're seeing in the armed forces is that we're turning a corner where people ought to be—and if they're not they're encouraged to be—open and seek treatment and counselling, whatever it takes.

National Defence committee  Thanks, Minister. It's a matter of significant concern for us, obviously, and anybody who's injured needs to be cared for. You're right, it's becoming more prevalent in the discussion, which is a good thing. It's important that mental health in general be something that people can talk about and that we, first and foremost, eliminate barriers to discussion and barriers to care.

National Defence committee  Thank you.

National Defence committee  Thank you, sir.

National Defence committee  The way we've approached shipbuilding has identified the basic requirement of the Canadian Armed Forces in the Royal Canadian Navy to achieve the tasks that are before them. As I've said many times, depending on the spending level that is ultimately decided concerning how many ships will be produced, I am convinced that not only will it match the policy basis for what we would do with those ships and the reason we need them, but that if we need more because the country needs us to do more, we would, I'm certain, have more.

National Defence committee  I do.

National Defence committee  To tell you the truth, we already have it. We are a binational command structure. NORAD, I think, is 58 and going on 59 years old, and is our oldest permanent alliance. It is unique in the world. It's binational. Canada and the United States both own it.

National Defence committee  I think the short answer to your question is absolutely. We've already experienced it once with the inability to put to sea a ship that can support our navy. Whether it is in deferred maintenance or in deferred capital, I take your point that we absolutely want to make certain that we don't defer maintenance and that we don't take risks with our operational capability into the future, particularly with those things that we are fundamentally relying upon.

National Defence committee  That's a great question. I've answered this for the Senate committee as well. I never relinquish national command of our troops. In so doing I will put in place the command and control capacity and the leadership to ensure I can exercise that command. That command allows us to take actions, extraordinary or otherwise, to ensure the safety and effectiveness of our troops in operations.

National Defence committee  Thank you for your question, and thank you for your sons' service. The question of why, or whether, to launch a senior staff assistance visit to RMC was one that I brought to the minister, We discussed it, and we moved ahead on it. I ordered it because there were a sufficient number of irregularities that happened in a relatively small student population.

National Defence committee  The ELE right now, should it fully come to pass, should, with reasonable confidence, keep the CF-18 fleet flying as is until 2025.

National Defence committee  No. That is a false deduction, sir.