As the minister said, the principle is that the procurement should be competitively undertaken. There are exceptions to that. For anything under $25,000 or any engineering-related work under $100,000, one can use sole-source.
As well, from time to time, due to the specifications of a particular commodity or good that is to be procured, it is found that, through the exercise of laying out the specifications, there is in fact only one firm that qualifies to meet those specifications. In those instances, there is normally an expression of interest beforehand. There's a meeting that Public Works would undertake to see if in fact there are any other firms. If not, it would normally issue what's called an ACAN, which is the name of the company that can meet the specifications in this case. That is put out for a period of time to see if any other company can come forward. If they do, then Public Works would re-look at the process.
It's only in those unique circumstances in which there is only one firm—it could be for security reasons if there's only one firm—that develops and produces this kind of equipment. In those instances, though, there is still a process to ensure that the public is aware and that other firms can come forward if they feel they can meet those specifications.