Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that in the next two months nothing of substance will happen with respect to this project.
He also knows that a new Conservative government will move quickly to acquire airlift and yet he is rushing to get cabinet approval of this, hoping something will change the airlift situation dramatically. It will not.
The only practical reason that this project is being pushed before the election is that the military want the Liberal government's signature on a document so it cannot back out of the commitment.
The minister recently said that large procurement should be held off until after the election. What has changed? Are we seeing more Liberal electioneering?