Mr. Speaker, one of the things called for in the white paper was to move to off the shelf procurements, and that means to get the best deal for Canadian taxpayers.
Unlike the hon. members opposite, I happen to know that Canadian industry is very competitive, especially in the areas of integrated systems and electronics. Many of those industries are in Quebec. I am sure many of those industries will have a chance to show to bidders that they are competitive and can be part of this particular contract.
With respect to the question of the absolute price, we cannot talk about an absolute price if we are to have a competition in which price is to be one of the principal determinants. However, I will guarantee that on the search and rescue helicopters it will be much cheaper than the price that was to be paid for the EH-101 for the same job. We have reviewed the specifications and have found out that what the previous government ordered was really too rich for even the application of search and rescue standards in the country.