Madam Speaker, the member says that the government has corrupted the process. This is absolutely wrong and I want to lay out why.
We put out a letter of interest to advise the industry about the government's intentions and requirements to determine the level of interest in the project. The letter of interest outlines the intended procurement strategy and the fact that the project will involve two separate competitions, one for the helicopter and one for the mission system.
The contracts will set out strict evaluation criteria for price, technical compliance, contractual terms and conditions and industrial and regional benefits, or IRBs.
We have a process. It is open. It is fair. It is transparent. It has been laid out. All of the specs are on the Department of National Defence website for all members to see and for the aerospace industry to see.
Given that this is the process, which has been laid out very clearly in the letter of interest to the aerospace industry, I wonder if the member would not agree that this in fact is an open, fair and transparent process.