Madam Speaker, I am very troubled by the coincidence. We know that when the announcement was made, the government was under pressure to help Bombardier because it was having difficulty with the C Series. In the end, the announcement was made the same day that the governments of Quebec and Manitoba announced that they were dropping their lawsuit. At the same time, Air Canada announced that it planned to purchase some planes and open a hypothetical maintenance centre.
I would be curious to know how that coincidence occurred. Can the minister confirm that he and his department had nothing to do with any of these decisions and that they were made independently, or was the government involved in these decisions? Did the government attempt to use its power of persuasion on the two provincial governments and Air Canada in order to get itself out of a difficult political situation, sacrificing the jobs of 2,600 workers in the process?