Madam Speaker, the member suggests that decisions have already been taken. That could not be further from the case.
As the minister laid out for the House, there is an ongoing extensive process where the letters of interest were sent to create a dialogue with the industry to determine what its situation. We found that the helicopter market is much more mature, much more developed than it was back when the situation was dealt with by the former government.
It raises a question about procurement as a process. Public Works and Government Services Canada provides professional procurement services on behalf of all government departments and agencies. In regard to this very important procurement that has been presented to us by the Department of National Defence, our objectives are to meet the specifications of the client, being DND. That is precisely what we are doing. The process is to satisfy the specifications required by the Department of National Defence.
Public works and government services does not play around with the specifications. By creating a dialogue with the industry we ensure that the process we go through will meet those standards. We want value. We want the lowest cost for the taxpayer and we want to meet the specifications. We do not want anything more.
As the minister indicated, by splitting the request for proposal into two pieces, one for the frame and one for the mission system, it is quite frankly an opportunity to take advantage of the mature marketplace that the helicopter industry and the aerospace industry provide. I hope the member will inform himself that there are many more interested parties now than there ever were before.
Does the member have a problem with a process that seeks to procure the frame and the mission system in accordance with the specifications of DND and the lowest cost for meeting those specifications?