I'm not against the private sector making money. What I'm against is the private sector making excessive money in the context of disasters.
I think the chair is right when he argues that they are pretty expensive woodcutters. If you use military helicopters to transport facilities across the country, given the way that over the years Parliament has insisted that the Canadian Forces account for costs, it is much more expensive, I think, than contracting with a private company and saying, “We need 10 helicopters and for the following prices.” I mean, I think you can negotiate reasonably.
In the interest of clarity, I'm a long-time supporter of the Canadian Red Cross. I've been associated with them for a while. They have been used over the course of the last several disasters at a cost that is not even in the same realm as the Canadian military. They are far less expensive because they use trained volunteers.
You use the private sector when you need things like logistical support. You use civil society, be it the Red Cross or the Salvation Army or whatever, which can draw on many volunteers, because they maintain those kinds of lists in a way the government does not. You use the federal government, or the governments generally, as a real last resort.