We discussed this quite thoroughly at steering committee today. One of the key reasons we need to question the deputy minister or his designate is that the process that was outlined by both the Auditor General and this committee, our predecessors, has not been followed. That's the specific reason we want them here, to address those issues.
They have a tendering process that does not follow the procedure that had been put in place. There's a significant amount of money. It encompasses 22,000 files. They've limited the number of days that the applicants have to respond to the RFP to 52. It is not nearly enough time; we've heard that from many other potential bidders who have been excluded as a result of the process. There is no ramp-up period; normally, in excess of three months is permitted.
None of that has been given consideration in this RFP, which they had two years to get right. For those reasons, we need to have them here and question them on this process.