Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with the committee about the defence policy update.

I will be focusing my comments on three commitments that have taken place since “Our North, Strong and Free: A Renewed Vision for Canada's Defence” was released in April 2024. This committee can closely follow these three commitments and make sure that the executive, regardless of which party is in power, follows through on them.

These three commitments are the following: a military off-the-shelf procurement strategy for the Canadian patrol submarine project, defence digitization, and reaching the goal of 2% of GDP for defence spending by 2032.

This past summer, the government announced that Canada would be moving ahead with the acquisition of new submarines. A request for information was then released to potential bidders. The RFI indicates that the government is aiming to procure a military off-the-shelf design with minimal modifications. The current strategy is squarely focused on acquiring the boats, and then managing the integration of specialized weapons systems or the onboarding of new systems after they are delivered. Although this strategy comes with notable risks around future integration and adaptation costs, it is the right approach. The fact is that having imperfect boats is better than having no boats at all.

I therefore recommend that this committee keep a close eye on the CPSP with a view to guarding against efforts to Canadianize or otherwise modify the boats before they are delivered.

The Department of Defence and the Armed Forces are also moving ahead with defence digitization, at least in theory. This effort must become a priority, otherwise the Canadian Armed Forces will not be able to fully exploit its new fleets and Canada will fall behind its key allies.

Indeed, this committee should push the government to move forward with a comprehensive digitization strategy for the entire Canadian national security community, which may necessitate a rethinking of existing data sovereignty policies.

Unless Canada accelerates its digitization efforts, we will be unable to remain fully interoperable with our allies and our case for joining Pillar II of the AUKUS agreement will be weakened.

Finally, this committee has an important role to play in ensuring that Canada reaches the 2% of GDP target for defence spending. Canada will only reach this target if there is a cross-party consensus. Having this committee speak with a single voice about the need to reach the target and holding all governments to account when they fall short is essential.

Suffice it to say, the results of Tuesday's presidential election in the United States reinforce the importance of reaching this target, lest Canada suffer the economic consequences of being seen as a defence laggard.

I look forward to your questions.