National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, as the team looked at options to deal with this, the overall cost of goods was roughly the same across the country. There are pockets of difference, but the main differentiator is housing. That was the fundamental change of going to a housing differential. It's based on 25% of a member's salary.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, this was all part of the negotiation with central agencies as to what we could get through and what we couldn't and what was landed on. Now that's not to say it's going to end at seven years. Seven years is a long time away. There will be a reassessment that goes in over the next few years to look at the impact.

National Defence committee  This is a negotiation between our staff and the Treasury Board.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'm happy to report that our recruiting modernization team is making good progress. It is advancing on three lines of effort. The first is on attraction, getting more applicants in the door to sign up. The good news is that I was just informed last week that our applicant numbers are above historic norms—and that's putting the new permanent-resident policy aside.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, we're getting very close on the duty to report. I believe I talked to you two years ago at this committee that this was something we needed to move on. I have signed off on it. I believe it's making its way up about addressing this and making some very fundamental changes to that policy.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'll answer the specific question. The office of the CDS does not get terribly involved in labour relations. That being said, as the commander of the army, I was very involved and had routine meetings with union representatives. It was a very cordial relationship, with an open door and a willingness to connect between those meetings if there was an issue to be addressed.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'm going to answer in English to make sure I get the terms right. The post-living differential was brought in in 2008, and it had not been changed since. It was based on market differences. In the 14 or 15 years since that policy was brought in and last updated, there have been changes in markets, so many were getting the benefit where others weren't.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, if I may add, we're in the process of implementing all of the recommendations from the independent external comprehensive review, so those 48 recommendations are in progress. We are adjusting many aspects of the institution. We've recently published our new military ethos “Trusted to Serve”.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, we are in constant communication with our allies with regard to the sharing of best practices. In fact, there is a Five Eyes group focused on personnel—human resources issues, recruiting, retention. It meets fairly regularly. When I meet with my NATO allies, we discuss these issues.

National Defence committee  Mr. Chair, I'll take this one. Recruiting and retention are at the top of our priority list. We're calling it reconstitution as we rebuild our numbers. The honourable member is absolutely correct. This is a very tight labour market, and like every other industry out there, we're seeing what has been called the “great resignation” as people move off to different employment.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Minister. Mr. Chair, we have to remember that a quick-reaction force is only employed when the situation is very bad. It has to be prepared to fight. Before we put a 200-person quick-reaction force anywhere, we need to make sure that the enablers are in place that go around that—the casualty evacuation, the intelligence, the fire support and the line of communication logistics required to ensure that element is set up for success.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Minister and Madam Chair. Maybe I'll just add some context in conclusion. I think the fall of Afghanistan, indeed our own involvement in Afghanistan and then the subsequent fall seven years after we left, just shows how dangerous the world is becoming. Between what we see the Taliban doing and what we see the Russians doing in Ukraine, we can see that civilization is just a thin veneer that is very easily ripped off.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, I would just add one point, and that's the importance of the global network of exchange positions—liaison positions—we have that greatly facilitated this operation. Let me give you a few examples. First, the U.S. headquarters that was overseeing this was its central command.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The numbers have evolved since May 9, 2022. I'll turn it over to General Prévost for the details.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, I will try to add some context to the question. This is a very complex situation, and I'll use my own experience there.