Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Benzvy Miller and Mr. Sobrino, I'd like to thank you for your presentation. I'd also like to thank you for being with us today and for your efforts in helping SMEs in obtaining contracts with the federal government.
If you will allow me, I'd like to spend some time on a fairly specific aspect of your Canadian innovation commercialization program, which is entirely new and a good idea in itself. We aren't against the principle in general or in particular. But we've learned that 20 projects a year can be approved and funded in four different priority sectors: health, safety and security, environment and enabling technologies. In the initial calls for proposals that were launched, we noted that Paradigm Shift Technologies Incorporated was among the qualified companies. Its mission, as part of your innovation program is the:
Development and demonstration of environmentally benign technology for life extension of F-35 gun system, a major component that will make the entire aircraft system green.
We were surprised to see that the F-35 could be considered an ecological aircraft. Even today, CBC revealed that, based on the purchases in the United States and Israel, F-35 aircraft actually cost about $130 million or $140 million each instead of $75 million. The federal government would also inject money through the innovation program to make the F-35 gun system ecological. Is that right?