National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I will ask General Mialkowski first to answer.

National Defence committee  As you will recall, we didn't know the type of environment we were getting ourselves into, as COVID-19 took on global pandemic proportions. As a result, the word of order in the Canadian Armed Forces was that we are and would remain the force of last resort. We didn't know what m

National Defence committee  I'll defer to Admiral Patterson.

National Defence committee  In the spring there was a global shortage of protective equipment, both medical and non-medical grade equipment. We certainly utilized the stock that was at our disposal for the tasks at the long-term care facilities. We also had equipment distributed for additional potential tas

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, thank you for the question. I would respond by amplifying what I mentioned earlier about the application of public health measures and the additional layer within the establishments of Defence. Whether an individual is a CAF member, a member of the Defence team or

National Defence committee  I will ask General Mialkowski first to comment. It's very clear that Canadian Armed Forces members, I expect, have a duty to report. That's not exclusive to COVID-19 and what was observed in long-term care facilities. General Mialkowski.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. In the spring, nearly everything in society came to a halt. That was the order given. We had more staff to assign those tasks to, be they people from the regular forces, of course, or from the reserves. [Technical difficulties]

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I apologize. I don't know how much of it was cut off. We're back on now.

National Defence committee  Sorry, Madam Chair, was this for me?

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. Within the reserves, more than 7,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces had decided to participate full time in the first wave. I don't have the national distribution, but I can tell you that the total is 7,000 in the primary reserve.

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. I'm not in a position to comment on recruitment as a whole. Without a doubt, recruitment was affected in terms of procedure rather than quantity, as many activities were done virtually. I'm not aware of any quotas that have been reduced within brigade

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question. I will say a few words and, if it's okay with you, I will then yield the floor to Rear Admiral Patterson and Brigadier-General Carpentier, who will be able to give you more clarifications on situations related to Quebec and to what we have done there.

National Defence committee  Unfortunately, I was not the commander of Operation Impact. However, from October 2018 to late November 2019—almost exactly a year ago—I led the establishment of, and executed and commanded, NATO Mission Iraq, which fell under Operation Impact for administrative purposes. I can s

National Defence committee  Madam Chair, I could certainly do that. I could also add briefly that we're very much aware of the drawdown due to the degrading geopolitical and security environment in Iraq as well as due to COVID. We've reduced the activities in both Jordan and Lebanon. We have since resumed

National Defence committee  Rear Admiral Patterson, better than anyone, can answer the specifics on the medical screening and the COVID testing prior to deployment. I would add that, during operations, as cases come up, there's an integral medical capacity that is deployed. There are partnerships with our a