With all due respect for the armed forces and especially for you, I know that you said several times that you wanted to replace the Hercules aircraft.
I can see another problem: things are being done much too fast. You dealt with only one supplier. By supposing that only one company could meet the requirements, you lost some negotiating power. Boeing has the Conservative government over a barrel, and Canadian interests are at stake. I think that this is indecent.
In the light of certain documents and articles, instead of proceeding with an ACAN, we could easily have asked some other companies to submit their proposals regarding delivery dates, capacity and tonnage.
General O'Connor, you went to the Pentagon and met Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. We have a major issue called ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations. You could have made an agreement with the Government of the United States. Why can't we have those kinds of statements under procurement to protect our Canadian citizens?