They are central to our success. Take private industry, for example. There is an obvious need to make the best of our relationships with Canadian firms. They also perform some of the research and development so critical to military technology. But there is another way that private industry helps us fulfil our important mission.
Many Canadian firms have employees who are also reservists.
In addition to their regular jobs, they devote a significant portion of their time to serving Canada. So that they can more easily take military training or participate in international deployments, we have initiated the Employer Support Program. As many of you here today may have reservists working for you, I suggest you consider joining the Program, if you haven't done so already. Your support of these citizen soldiers is vital to the Canadian Forces. The air campaign in Kosovo has underlined the importance of having a force structure composed of military forces that are mobile, flexible, precise and capable of operating well together.