Public Accounts committee  Madam Chair, maybe I can help out there. I spoke—

Public Accounts committee  Madam Chair, if we're into questions of what the impact is on the budget, that's best placed to the Department of National Defence or the Canadian Coast Guard, depending on which project you're after.

Public Accounts committee  Unless my colleagues Simon or Michael have that handy, I think we would have to go back and provide the committee with a written answer, Madam Chair.

Public Accounts committee  Again, Madam Chair, I think we'll have to take that back. However, I would underscore that, across the board, the older the ships get, the greater the increase in maintenance costs. It's quite substantial, and that's one of the reasons the strategy for the two polar icebreakers t

Public Accounts committee  That's exactly it, Madam Chair. There is a natural tension. Obviously, due to the age of the fleets, there is pressure to get ships sooner, and we all know why that is. We also want schedules that are credible. When finding that balance in the early days, the yards and the gover

Public Accounts committee  The premise of that question may be a bit of an oversimplification of where things are. Of course, there have been ongoing discussions with the yards about schedules. I think we're now in a better position to understand—

Public Accounts committee  The lessons learned have been ongoing, but the sophistication of the yards and the risk management and schedule management tools that go with it.... These are long-term programs, so it's not a lesson you learn overnight. This is a multi-decade program, and we will continue to lea

Public Accounts committee  In the shipbuilding industry, I don't think we can ever say there will be no delays. We've already talked about COVID. Even countries with generations of shipbuilding experience still encounter delays. These are complex projects. We've talked a bit about the surface combatant a

Public Accounts committee  The competence required and the skill sets, both from an employee perspective but also continuing to make use of outside experts to get advice, have been part of the strategy from the get-go. We will be looking to increase our resources as well, both within our department to en

Public Accounts committee  You can look to the Auditor General's recommendations for good clues as to where the expertise is needed, such as in risk management, to make sure we're world-class there. If you're into discussions of capability, I would leave that to my colleagues at Defence and the Coast Guard

Public Accounts committee  There are two things. Number one, I'll speak to the new-build projects and maybe turn to my colleagues from National Defence and Fisheries and Oceans to talk about any other mitigation measures for the existing fleets. This means it is absolutely critical to work with existing

Public Accounts committee  I think, Madam Chair, we'll have to let Defence, Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard answer that.

Public Accounts committee  On the schedule delays, Madam Chair, I have a few points to offer here. Number one, the initial schedules, way back when, were indeed not realistic. As time marched on, people realized that those initial schedules just weren't going to hold, and there were adjustments made. The

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. An important recommendation for the Auditor General as we work through the third yard process.... I mentioned earlier that the early days of the national shipbuilding strategy were characterized by overly optimistic forecasts—on all sides, frankly. Taking

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for your question. As we have already announced, the Davie shipyard is currently going through the process to become the third shipyard. That is the first step before a contract is signed. So we must continue to work with the Davie shipyard, to ensure it completes the