People think of the shipbuilding strategy as Halifax and Vancouver, but I'm in Victoria, and we actually have the good jobs, because Seaspan does the hulls in Vancouver and it does the filling of the hulls with the technology in Esquimalt. I'm quite happy to hear that there is attention to that, given the off-the-shelf design.
I know this gets between you and procurement, but does that also include provisions to ensure that if we do select an off-the-shelf design, that technology is transferred to Canada so that when it comes to maintenance of those systems we won't be beholden to a foreign company that might have other priorities or be under some restrictions by a foreign government?
I know Britain ran into this in some of its technology. When it wanted to go to Afghanistan, other countries suggested that the end use wasn't acceptable to them and therefore certain kinds of maintenance and parts couldn't be supplied to Britain.
I wonder if we have that same concern here and whether we're working to develop our own capacities.