Fine, but I hope that my time will not be reduced.
Regardless, in awarding the contract to CAE... Given that you do not interfere, I imagine it's the Prime Minister's Office that does. We're talking about Chinooks and Hercules but obviously not about C-17s because we were swindled on those. You don't want to do anything but we were swindled.
You therefore bypassed all the federal bureaucracy's expertise. This is the first time an industry minister has negotiated before people from his own department and in my opinion it's unacceptable.
For the first time, Canada will not be fully responsible for the maintenance of one of its aircraft fleets, thereby depriving its aeronautical industry of significant industrial benefits related to technological transfers. The cherry on top is that the ITAR regulations were not negotiated. If one wants maintenance, one has to obtain intellectual property. There is absolutely no intellectual property. Even if there was a will to get a percentage for Quebec, that control 60% of the industry, you negotiated peanuts. You took a nice little trip to Washington with nothing to show for it, except making a few new friends for yourself.
You must be aware, minister, that the Government of Canada negotiated licence agreements on engineering and technical data in order to allow Canadian companies to provide maintenance directly to the Defence department, and not to the manufacturers.
Could you tell me if this still stands, and if not, why? Why is it that companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing now decide on how regional benefits will be distributed? Why is the government now useless? Finally, what is your role in government? What is the purpose of having a Minister of Industry under the Conservative government if he can't fulfil his duties, except for making little trips to Washington, and help people in their regions, especially in Quebec, in obtaining the percentages they have a right to? If you want the industry to be successful, you have to have intellectual property. There has to be research and development as well. We want benefits, not just compensation.