Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to turn to the question of Canada's submarines. I have a base in my riding where two of them are based, the repair and maintenance centre, so it is something I am interested in, both in general policy but also specifically.
We had a pretty good record in 2017 and 2018. HMCS Chicoutimi did an excellent job enforcing sanctions against North Korea, and we had HMCS Windsor doing Atlantic operations with NATO. Last year, we didn't have such a good year, with zero days at sea. I know the expectation. Vice-Admiral McDonald said that the subs will be back in the water and things will be much better this year.
My question is really about replacement. At that time, Vice-Admiral McDonald said we have programs in place to keep the subs operational until the mid-2030s, but the defence policy put forward called for replacements not until the 2040s. Therefore, what we're seeing now is a gap already emerging. If we are actually going to get new submarines, and I do believe we should because they are an important part of the Canadian navy, don't we have to start that process pretty soon? Otherwise, that gap is going to get bigger and we won't really have operational submarines.