Mr. Speaker, the irrevocable contract, the competitively developed contract was in fact two years before the hon. member is even speaking about. It was beyond that.
The hon. member ought to understand, because it has been explained to him enough, that the 10 month delay was caused by the merger of two agencies within the Government of Canada. Alexis Nihon in fact delivered the building to the government on time, on budget and fulfilled its contractual obligation to the government.
It was an internal issue and not one in which one would punish an external contractor, in this case Alexis Nihon.