Mr. Chair, I had the pleasure of speaking this evening during the first period allocated to the Bloc Québécois. However, as member for Saint-Jean and the National Defence critic, I asked my party to allow me to speak also in the last part because I thought I should listen to the entire discussion this evening in order to stress some points that I believe are important. It should also be understood that an MP represents not only his riding but also a large region.
I would like to return to the issue of aircraft and the aerospace industry because 60% of that industry is concentrated in Quebec. I mentioned it earlier and I am reiterating this fact. Consequently, when military contracts involve the aerospace industry it is important, to me as an MP and representative of the part of the region at issue, that the maximum economic benefits be generated.
When I say that Quebec represents 60%, I am talking about some pretty large companies such as Bombardier, L3, CAE, Bell Helicopter and Pratt and Whitney. There are at least 35,000 jobs in the aerospace industry.
When the government decides to invest billions of dollars, it is the duty of the member from this corner of the country to claim his region's share. Some $13 billion are being invested in aeronautics. That is why I am emphasizing this.
I want to come back to the first contract negotiated with Boeing. Earlier, the Minister of National Defence told me he was not the Minister of Industry. I know that, but he is nonetheless a minister of the Crown and since he attends all cabinet discussions, he is in a position to answer these questions and not wash his hands of it.
And he is the one who establishes the specifications. In other words, the minute they say a plane has to have such and such a radius of action, a range of so many nautical kilometres and a load of so many thousands of kilograms, we know full well that there is only one company for the job and that is Boeing. The government wants to do business with Boeing; and that is its right. I am not saying it is not, but the government also has a duty to obtain the most economic spinoffs possible.
I have nothing against Boeing. It is currently a major multinational company in the world and it has a game to play. It has corporate interests to defend. It is playing its role and the minister has to play his, just like all the other ministers have to play theirs.
Accordingly, we already know that Boeing will get the contracts for the C-17s and the Chinooks. Unfortunately, I find that the government gave in to Boeing too easily. Let met explain.
There is a concept in the United States called ITAR, or International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The Americans are saying they are not prepared to give the intellectual property to anyone. There are other conditions to ITAR. We will therefore not get the intellectual property of what we buy.
There are other factors linked to ITAR. Recently we heard on the news that they will not allow people with dual citizenship to work on these planes. I am not talking about general maintenance, because full maintenance of the equipment will not be done in Canada. Not only will we pay big bucks for the equipment, but we will not be able to do the maintenance. The maintenance contract will go to the United States, except of course for basic maintenance such as fuelling the planes or changing the oil or whatever. This is insignificant compared to what will be done in the United States.
We have to wonder whether our people's preaward notice is the best way to proceed.
For some time now, the minister has been saying that it was a competitive process. However, the outcome does not reflect a competitive price or any major benefits for Quebec.
Does the minister agree that we will be giving many billions of dollars to Boeing and that, as of right now, there will be next to no benefits for the aerospace industry because of ITAR, and next to no spin-offs for maintenance because everyone knows it will get done in the United States. I want to know if the minister agrees with these facts.