I don't understand the problem with the competition. Canada has been part of the development of the F-35. I understand that. We have as part of our obligation some $170 million that we have committed as part of that development. I understand that. But I don't understand why that prevents going to a competition. It's not as if going to a competition will lose you any more than you've already sunk into the development of an F-35.
In the kind of testimony that we heard today, and other days, there are a lot of assertions made. You've made assertions, and so have previous people. We don't really have the opportunity or the capacity to sift through all those assertions and make comparisons. If we were to go to a competition and we decided to go with the F-35, it's not as if we would be penalizing ourselves. The $170 million is already sunk in. Why would we not be going to a competition where those making the decisions would be experienced in assessing all the assertions, as opposed to a committee?
Can you help me understand why we would not have gone to a competition?