You have just said, in fact, that while the expert committee that was brought in from all over the world to evaluate the bids was at work, suddenly the study appeared, sponsored by the Gates Foundation. In fact, on March 16, Butler-Jones was very clear when he said:
Once it was clear that none of them were successful, we found out that in fact additional capacity has developed in the last few years that made this unnecessary.
Again I say that when you start to give us a line that isn't based on fact, it starts to diverge all over the place.
I want to ask Bill and Don and Dr. Sekaly, what would be the reason for this change of heart? We know it's not based on anything to do with the bidders not meeting the task at hand. We know that Winnipeg actually was told that they were successful. We know that it has nothing to do with capacity, because in fact the very reason for this in the first place is still there today.
So my question is, what's the reason? Do you have any sense of why this government is trying to scuttle this project? Is it petty politics because Terry Duguid was involved in Manitoba? Is it big pharma politics because they don't want to concede the agenda to a non-profit or generic sector? Is it regional politics because if Winnipeg were going to get it, then Quebec would be left out? Is it ideological politics in terms of AIDS and trying to find a vaccine?
What would be the reason for stopping something this significant that would put Canada on the map, that would have been important for Winnipeg, that would have actually made a difference in terms of preventing AIDS and finding a cure?
Bill, Don, Dr. Sekaly, could you please answer that?