To respond to what Laurie has said, the fact of the matter is that the National Research Council challenged the statement of requirements and challenged the assumptions that were included in it.
I think we got a copy of that in late August or early September. It was produced in March, and we haven't seen any reaction from the Ministry of National Defence to that NRC report. It went to NRC because of industry. They said they wanted to have a good look at this and they wanted it sent over so they could have a study. What has been the response to that? We should hear from them.
I don't think this committee should wait around until decisions have been made and then call on the ministers to tell us what they're doing. This goes back to Mr. Bachand's concern about the work of this committee. We're not just reactionary. We don't just react to what the government does and offer our opinion.
Here's a report that was made available to this committee--at the request of the committee, by the way. It took a long time for us to get it. Now that we have it, I think we have the obligation and certainly the right to question the department, particularly the Department of National Defence, on what's the response to that, and to put our questions and have our say as to what we think.
To wait until after the decision is made and has gone to tender I think would be stupid for this committee to do. We might as well roll up our tents and go home. I think we must hear at least from the Minister of National Defence, and we have to hear that soon. I don't see any reason why we can't hear from all of them.