Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to welcome my friends seated at the table. I'd like to start by repeating what I said earlier. The Bloc Québécois considers it a shame that the search and rescue program no longer appears to be one of the government's priorities. This program was announced six years ago. We've already seen all kinds of developments. It is the only program for civilians in distress. For my political party, it is very important that the program move forward. The first step is being taken today. You are part of industry and you're here to explain to us your platform and its capabilities.
Obviously, we will need to continue putting pressure on the government, to give private industry as clear a picture as possible of the program's future. We cannot leave matters hanging like this for long.
Earlier, I asked one of the previous witnesses some questions about the National Research Council. On reading up on the subject, I discovered something important about the so-called Statement of Operational Requirement. I'd like to quote three excerpts from NRC's review:
“The SOR as written is over-constrained.” That is one of the conclusions reached. The review goes on to say this: “A principal recommendation is that the SOR be amended to better reflect a capability-based requirements rationale rather than a platform-centric approach.”
And finally: “NRC recommends that the FWSAR SOR be amended in light of the review documented here.”
I don't know if SORs are often amended. When the government announces, as it did in 2004 and 2006, that it is planning to develop new fixed wing search and rescue capability, your company usually gets down to work and examines the government's requirements. The process is launched. The SOR is published and all companies endeavour to comply with the terms of the Statement of Operational Requirement.
How do you feel about the proposed amendments? I find it odd that DND would release an SOR and, to save time, would then ask NRC to conduct its own review. Ultimately, NRC concludes that the SOR should be amended. Isn't that a problem for some of you? If the government follows through on NRC's recommendation, wouldn't it be unfair to those companies that have already made an effort to comply with the terms of the initial SOR?