Public Accounts committee  Absolutely. The department has a resource management committee that I chair, and the chief of the defence staff is on that. Every major financial proposal goes through that committee to be examined, justified, reviewed. We have an investment plan that is laid out over the next

Public Accounts committee  Yes, absolutely.

Public Accounts committee  Oh, no, absolutely. This is a priority for us.

Public Accounts committee  As they do the project definition work, they will look at the likely technological solutions we would use, and that will be part of the project, whether it's radio chip technology or whether we do bar codes. Don't forget that some of our inventory isn't sitting in a nice Canadian

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. I think it's a number of factors. I don't think there is a single source. Sure, it's a question of resources, so for us to—

Public Accounts committee  Both. For us to implement an AIT, as Pat indicated, the first costs we looked at were over $1 billion. That's a lot of money.

Public Accounts committee  That's money that we would have to take from our capital budget, which we use to buy military equipment.

Public Accounts committee  I will ask Monsieur Rochette to talk about the Auditor General's work on the financial aspect, and then I can speak to you about the quantity and loss parts.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for your question. I guess I'll come at it like this. We have two issues, I think, one going forward and one dealing with the legacy. Going forward, we want to make sure we have a modern information system that can collect the financial and inventory information and p

Public Accounts committee  Go ahead.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. First of all, thank you for your comments regarding NATO and the respect they have for the Canadian Forces. I think that's very much appreciated. I agree with you that Canada is very well respected in NATO. Let me start off by getting to the heart of your questions.

Public Accounts committee  My apologies, sir. In terms of the plan we've put in, I think we have made progress since the last plan. I talked about it somewhat at the beginning, in terms of going back and putting in the system, first of all. That's what was needed to help us break the back of it.

Public Accounts committee  It was part of the original plan, as I recall.

Public Accounts committee  I would believe so, sir.

Public Accounts committee  I can't answer that for you, but I'm happy to get you—