Mr. Speaker, last December, the Minister of National Defence decided to recommend to cabinet that Canada purchase 17 C-27J search and rescue aircraft from the Italian firm Alenia. He promised that the official announcement would be made early in the new year. However, it seems the minister does not have his colleagues' approval. Several reporters on the Hill and elsewhere already know that his colleagues are pressuring him to change his recommendation.
Why is the minister stubbornly recommending an aircraft that the Minister of Industry rejects? Why are the criteria his department set being questioned?