Yes, it is. No, no, I'm not asking your opinion, I'm telling you I think it's a big deal. I think $50 million is a lot of money.
The whole premise of this has been that that $50 million has not been properly represented in the process, so there was an unfairness. The one on the inside who currently had the contract was aware of what the real numbers were, and the ones that were bidding had to bid on a number based on a formula that was inaccurate and didn't show actual costs, which were much less than what the formula provided.
We keep coming back to this main point of whether or not we're going to side with the deputy minister that this is a fair and equitable contract and should be allowed to stand, or with the Auditor General, who has said it's not. It seems to me that if we agree with the Auditor General we're going to have no choice but to recommend to the government that this be cancelled and re-tendered. I'm not hearing anything to give me confidence that there's enough question in what the Auditor General has done that we should set her work aside in favour of the department.
Now, I'm wide open, Mr. Marshall, for you to find a way to convince me. Please don't use a lot of formulas and details; you'll just waste your breath. But if you can, summarize where we would be serving the public not to act on the words that we're getting from our own Auditor General.