All right.
An independent expert, Mr. Waddington, has told us that, when independent experts looked at the MAPLE project, they could not find any solutions to the design problems of the reactor and that, consequently, that reactor would be unable to supply isotopes. Despite that, the project went ahead and money continued to be invested. In 2006, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, after a disagreement, reopened the contract to sign another agreement with different conditions. At that stage, many people were still in doubt about the future of the MAPLE reactor.
I fail to understand why, when Atomic Energy of Canada negotiated a new agreement with Nordion, the government did not get involved to underline that the taxpayers ran the risk of having to invest more money, of being faced with legal action and of having to pay compensation. There were obviously major problems.
In 2006, should the government have been involved to warn Atomic Energy of Canada Limited that there was an enormous financial risk, instead of letting it sign that contract? And the end of the day, it is taxpayers who will have to foot the bill.