Mr. Chair, not only do I have a list of witnesses, but I also suggest that we group the witnesses together to save as much time as possible instead of spending a whole year on this process.
As to Mr. Hawn's suggestion, I would like the three ministers to appear. First, we should hear from the Minister of National Defence since it was the Department of National Defence that set out the specific terms of the contract. It would be important for the minister to explain to us why he chose those types of planes and to tell us whether that will change the missions of the Canadian Air Force. So I would call the Minister of National Defence.
The Minister of Public Works and Government Services will be responsible for signing contracts, or for proceeding by way of a memorandum of understanding, so we should hear from her.
Finally, I would also call the Minister of Industry since he usually deals with economic benefits. So it would be important for us to hear from these three ministers. If all three ministers are present, we will need a full two-hour meeting to be able to ask them all the appropriate questions.
However, as we saw in the announcement from July, the industry is also extremely interested in these contracts, which is normal since we are talking about anywhere from $12 billion to $16 billion in economic benefits. I have a list of four companies and I would like us to consult them. I suggest that the first group of witnesses consist of representatives from CAE and Pratt & Whitney, and that the second group consist of representatives from L-3 MAS and Héroux-Devtek.
The unions representing aerospace companies also seem very interested in the issue and have already contacted me. So I suggest a cross-section of representatives from these three unions. I believe these unions represent almost 90% of the aerospace sector. So I will be pleased to give you the names. In my opinion, someone like Claude Lajeunesse from the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) would also contribute to the debate. I will provide you with the names formally in writing, but, for the time being, I suggest these witnesses.