Mr. Norlock, I admire your spirited defence of Trenton and all its good works, and I thank you for that, but I will say that I don't think Davie Shipbuilding would agree that there is no shipbuilding capability in Canada, and Irving, of course, on the west coast, is working very hard to develop it. Also, the F-18s, we're told by the air force, will be capable of operating fully until 2025, so I guess we do have a little leeway for the replacement decision.
I want to ask about one thing. We talked about the priorities and potential budget issues. Canada got out of the NATO AWACS program a couple of years ago. It was done for financial reasons. We were going to save ourselves $50 million. We've been involved in that program for 25 years. It was part of the NATO smart defence. We don't expect everybody to be able to put together that kind of warning system. It's proved very effective for NATO. It helped NATO to be very effective, particularly in the Libyan mission, as one noted example, and helped Canada do its job in Libya.
If we're getting out of programs like that—which are proven, which are part of Canada's commitment to NATO with our allies—for the sake of $50 million, why would we be going around looking for other programs of, as you say, Mr. Macdonald, and quite rightly, unknown expense? We've been told everything so far, from that it would cost us nothing to that it would cost us...I think the other day the term was a considerable amount or a large amount of money. We've had generals complaining about money for readiness and forces and things like that. Why would we be seeking something else to do unless there was a compelling need?