Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the hon. member again raised the issue of the satellite data from RADARSAT-2 and the cancellation, because it gives me a chance to follow up on the response when I last put the question to the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
I have found confirmation, in coverage by the media, of the fact that there were concerns, both operational and contractual, within the Department of National Defence. The information I have is that both the minister of defence in the Harper cabinet and the minister of foreign affairs, as it was then called, objected internally, but the prime minister went ahead.
The evidence that I have from media coverage confirms that it was not just budgetary concerns but operational concerns. Members can find this information in a National Post story, which was headlined, “Red tape forces Canada to stop providing Ukraine’s military with satellite imagery...”.
However, that red tape, when we read the story, is not red tape in the bureaucratic sense, but operational concerns, including from MDA, including the Department of National Defence, which is the reason it was opposed internally to begin with.
I would ask the hon. member to reflect on that. It certainly was not budgetary concerns, but operational concerns, including those of the Canadian military.