Yes, just like they were going to eliminate the GST. But they did not fulfil that one.
No sooner had the Prime Minister been sworn in than he met his cabinet and cancelled the EH-101 contract. Of course, there are costs involved in the cancellation of a contract that has already been signed. That decision cost $500 million to Canadian taxpayers. But nothing had been solved. The Sea King helicopters were built in the sixties.
As the new critic on national defence issues, I am sometimes told “Mr. Bachand, we want to take you for a helicopter ride”. I am always careful to ask “In which one?” Because, even though I am a rather brave man, I am very reluctant to fly in Sea King and Labrador helicopters.
So one contract was cancelled, at a cost of $500 million. We have helicopters dating back to the 1960s and time marches on and they have still not been replaced. A few years later, in 1998, the government said “It is really too dangerous and it is costing us too much in upkeep. Let's buy 15 Cormorants”. This was a $790 million contract, at $60 million each.
Cormorant EH consists of companies with consortiums here. Consortiums are often involved. This one includes Bombardier, Canadian Helicopter Corporation and Bristol. I would remind the House that these are three Canadian companies, one of which, Bombardier—and this is important for us—is in Quebec and has extensive aeronautics expertise.
We therefore bought it. The Prime Minister met with the President of France once or twice. Since I was not there, naturally I am unable to comment on what was said between the President of France and our Prime Minister. Suddenly, however, the winds shifted towards Eurocopter, a consortium with a large French component.
Nonetheless, we were committed to the 15 Cormorants which we bought and which we will have delivered. Rather than say “Keep this expertise and go for some continuity” the government is saying “How can we get out of this now?” This is where the letter of interest comes in. The government sets out specifications.
His first specification: “We have bought 15 helicopters, and we will now buy 28 more for maritime patrol and to replace the Sea King fleet. Here is what we want from the companies. We outline the requirements and tell them we do not want to spend more than $925 million for 28 helicopters”. I remind the House that we just bought 15 Cormorants at $60 million apiece. But now, we want to get 28 more for $925 million. That is about $33 million apiece.
We know very well that EH will probably be excluded. We do not want to spend more than $925 million, and we are also saying that the contract will go to the lowest bidder. It means that, for a $1 difference between Eurocopter and EH, a Canadian consortium of which Bombardier is a partner, the contract will go to Eurocopter. We should also consider that EH is proposing an helicopter which is often compared to a Cadillac, the top of the line. But, for a $1 difference, we would rather buy a Lada.
That is what the letter of interest means. In other words, we can buy from Eurocopter an helicopter with the technology of the 1970s. Scandinavians have just refused to buy their helicopters for maritime patrol from Eurocopter because they consider this aircraft not to be safe in Scandinavian weather. I remind you that our own weather is quite similar. Weather conditions here and in Scandinavia are rather similar.
We will settle for a Lada, when we could have a Cadillac for $100 more. That is a problem. Besides, there will be no Canadian content at all. The work will be done elsewhere. The government will use $925 million provided by Quebec and Canadian taxpayers to have helicopters built elsewhere. It seems to me that it should be a government policy to have some Canadian content.
The decision in the letter of interest that I mentioned will benefit some companies and penalize others. Certification involves many technical details and there are companies that will not be able to get that certification.
There is something else with regard to the best possible price. This contradicts Treasury Board guidelines. Treasury Board does not say the best price, but the best value. To get the best value, it may be better to spend a few extra millions and have helicopters that will be safe for our pilots and our military personnel.
These helicopters will be used for surveillance and, sometimes, for search and rescue operations. It is important to have some flexibility and not say “The lowest bidder will be awarded the contract”, knowing that Eurocopter will most likely be selected. People are not interested in a technology that dates back to the seventies, but this is what we will have.
We will have another problem in ten or fifteen years. We will very quickly have maintenance problems with that. It seems to me that the Lada's reputation is not as good as the Cadillac's. It seems to me that, when we buy a Lada, we are back at the garage sooner for engine or body repairs. The same thing is going to happen with these helicopters, except that we are talking about $925 million.
In addition, another argument in support of awarding the contract to EH is that we already have the expertise. We already have of 15 EHs, the version we call the Chevrolet, as compared to the Cadillac version the Progressive Conservative Party wanted to buy in 1993.
There are some questionable decisions in all this. It is hard to accept that we can exclude Canadian content like that so readily. Bell Helicopter could even undertake to do the assembly if EH were chosen. Companies such as CRL Technologies are prepared to do the emergency lighting system for these helicopters. All these people are going to be brushed aside. We are talking about the possible creation of some 250 to 300 jobs in Quebec with this contract.
This is not what the government has decided to do, though. It has decided to go elsewhere. It has decided to award a contract in Europe, without Canadian content. We the taxpayers of Quebec and Canada will simply be left with the bill.
It seems to me that I heard my Liberal colleagues talking about transparency a while ago. The political meddling is transparently obvious to me. Eurocopter was very upset at losing the last contract for the 15 Cormorants. The Prime Minister met with the President of France. They agreed to say “We will try to do something for you”. They are unable to say what this “something for you” is and to give the contract to Eurocopter directly.
With the letter of interest before us, it amounts to the same thing. The government is making life impossible for EH and other companies. It is making it easy for Eurocopter. That company will probably win the contract.
For us in the Bloc Quebecois, the political meddling in the process is transparently obvious. What is more, Canadian content has been totally ignored. It is important for us to have this sort of debate. Military procurement involves the purchase of huge amounts of materiel. We should pay much more attention to seeing that our taxes are having positive benefits here at home.
The Bloc Quebecois will therefore be very happy to support the motion by the Progressive Conservative Party member. We agree with them, and I think that the opposition members we heard this morning agree with us as well. There has obviously been political interference, and the government is completely dropping Canadian content.
I hope that the government is going to learn something from this discussion. Today, it is perhaps not too late to launch another kind of call for tender which would truly benefit not just one company which the government has its eye on, but everyone. The government should use the Treasury Board directives on best value, rather than seeking the lowest price, and it should try to require Canadian content. I think that then it would be a responsible government.
Unfortunately I have the impression that this will not be possible. I think that today's debate should not be in vain. It is not too late to do something. We are a bit discouraged when we look at how this situation arose and see the government's attitude and how it said no. Cancelling this contract cost a lot of money and now the government is coming back with another contract which has no Canadian content and where the helicopters will be manufactured outside Canada.