Well, you're assuming somehow that I have a bias in all of this. What I want to see is the best aircraft able to cover a country that has the largest coastline in the world and has extreme weather conditions, and an aircraft that has the capability to service the north, which is a massive part of our country. These aircraft, as you can appreciate, spend a great deal of time over water. They spend a great deal of time flying in conditions like valleys in the mountainous regions, in places that pose serious threats to pilots because of the complexity in the terrain.
I just want to see the best aircraft. I take advice from the Chief of the Air Staff, from technicians, from individuals with specific knowledge of the limits to which those aircraft can fly. We also have real concerns about and a consideration of the ability of SAR techs themselves--that is, the men and women who jump out of those aircraft, often with a great deal of equipment on their backs, with medical supplies, and with the ability to get into an emergency situation very quickly.
So all of those important considerations go into this complex factor and grid of how we get the best plane. Canadian aerospace will be the beneficiaries; to what extent and what company will build this plane, that will be determined through this process.
