Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister MacKay, I'm assuming that when the program started back in 1997 we weren't the ones who recognized that the current CF-18s would only last until 2015 or 2020. I'm assuming it was recognized by the previous Liberal government that this was a long-term vision: it was going to take time to come up with the plan, get the engineering done, and decide where we were going to go.
Last night on CBC, the Liberal leader was asked directly whether he would cancel the contract. He hemmed and hawed and he gave a non-direct answer. I think he was asked a couple of times.
What does it do to the defence department when they are not sure of what is going to happen tomorrow? When the Liberal leader is not able to say yes or no, and hems and haws and leads Canadians on, what does that do to our men and women in uniform?