Firstly, allow me to respond to the first point you raised. I would ask you to revisit the premise upon which you say that procurement was not carried out fairly or transparently, because it was.
Mr. Rodriguez, the awarding of the contract that was ultimately given to Boeing was preceded by several meetings with suppliers working in the aeronautics industry. Once it was agreed upon that there was only one single supplier that satisfied all criteria, after having received word from other suppliers who also thought they could meet the requirements, a committee concluded that Boeing was the only company that could supply these aircraft. We then entered into discussions with Boeing.
Contrary to what you were saying and what others are alleging, I believe that the process was very transparent.
With respect to ITAR, I agree with you completely. When a private Canadian company deals with an American company, and in this case is forced to transfer an employee in order to keep the contract with the U.S. company and be in compliance with American legislation, the law is being applied extraterritorially, something that the Prime Minister of Canada and my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs have objected to and rejected. They have indicated to their U.S. counterparts that we do not agree with the extraterritorial reach of ITAR.
Fortunately, Mr. Rodriguez, these cases are still isolated incidents. But one case is one case too many. Canada continues—and will continue—to remind the Americans that we will not allow private Canadian companies working in Canada to be forced to hire only persons designated by Americans, or by U.S. legislation, because this is what is deemed to be acceptable in their eyes. We reject this premise, and will continue to reject this premise.