Yes, Mr. Chairman.
The Cyclone program was a lowest-price compliant program with serious interest by three companies globally, based on a very detailed and specific specification, and that contract, as you know, was signed in December 2004.
The Chinook was at the time, according to our understanding, the only aircraft in the world in production at all that could meet a fairly basic set of transport helicopter requirements—sling the in-service gun of the Canadian Forces and carry a platoon of infantry—very similar to the requirements of the Australians, the British, and Americans. That process required us to go out and confirm on the market whether or not there was a single available machine that could meet our requirements, which is what led to posting on MERX our requirements in an ACAN.
In response to the confirmation that there was nothing in production or close to what the Chinook could do, the Government of Canada went into direct negotiations with Boeing to hammer out very specific details on acquisition price, the cost of survivability and self-defence modification to the aircraft, and in-service support costs through the life of the aircraft.
So one was a competitive bid in which you get all of those things given to you for a firm, fixed price, and the second was a tough, detailed negotiation process with the only supplier: for this one, you open the envelope and you get what you get; for this one, you have to hammer out the details.
Does that give you some sense?