Yes, or like the minister responsible for Manitoba. There's been barely a peep from anyone about the fact that, by all conclusions, and whether or not it was inappropriate for an official out of the agency to say this or not, Winnipeg had won in every category and had been recommended.
Now, that may have been at the scientific level, and I think that should raise concerns on its own. The fact needs to be noted that these 19 scientists from all around the world came and looked at all four bids and concluded there was a clear winner, or a ranking, as Dr. Butler-Jones has said. That gives hope to people.
In fact it didn't surprise any of us, because we have Dr. Frank Plummer, and he's well respected and he's known the world over for his breakthroughs in terms of HIV and AIDS. It's because we have Dr. Allen Ronald, who's also been a pioneer in this area. It was because a consortium brought together the international association vaccine initiative, the Canadian association, the serum industry, the biggest generic company in the world, and Cangene, the biggest biotech manufacturer in the country, and spent three quarters of a million dollars. It didn't surprise anyone. It seemed to be the logical place.
Naturally, we're trying to find out not just why Winnipeg lost. In fact, we've all lost. All four bids are gone. That means Canada has lost. And it is about a non-profit facility, and it was designed for that in the first place, because the private sector doesn't necessarily make room for scientists to do exploratory discovery research. The scientists who have come to us during these hearings have said that. They've talked about biding their time waiting in line. This centre was going to be a place to work on vaccines, maybe not just HIV but tuberculosis or other areas that could have been centred here. It would have created, wherever it was located, whether it was going to be in.... What's your riding?