At one time—and Mr. Williston was perhaps there back then—the military wanted accessibility. If we didn't want to do business with the Europeans, we could have entered into an agreement with Boeing and said that because it was an American company located across the border, we could rent aircraft at the end of their production cycle when we needed them. I don't know if we'll ever know if political agreements were entered into.
At any rate, the Chief of the Defence Staff said that he was reluctant to put anything at all on paper. The only competition, over the past six years—and this was part of the army's strategic plan—was between two companies: Airbus and Boeing. Don't try and tell me that the Chief of the Defence Staff didn't choose the aircraft. So on the one hand, he didn't want to put anything down on paper, and on the other hand, he decided to buy aircraft off the shelf, Boeing C-17s. We don't have a handle on our backs minister, we're not suitcases. The C-17s were wanted. You and your government wanted to make sure you had strategic aircraft, and that's fine. It was your political choice, and you'll live with the consequences. The fact remains that we wanted Boeing aircraft.