National Defence committee  Sir, if I might comment—

National Defence committee  The best way, in our view, to ensure that is through your endorsement of the defence industrial strategy. I would add that while you acknowledge that aerospace is part of the defence and security sector, there are a number of industrial capabilities that cross over—though I'm not sure of the right word here—aerospace and land vehicles and soldier systems and naval systems, and many of those are in the defence electronics area.

National Defence committee  We observed in our presentation that the JSF model was one model. We believe it is a model that can work if it's effectively pursued. We identified some of the characteristics that we believe would support Canadian industry doing well, whether it's within the F-35 model or a different model that is available to the government.

National Defence committee  That's a question that requires me to anticipate a number of different scenarios. Transparency is good because it affords industry an opportunity to understand what the government is looking to acquire. The earlier and more transparent they are, the better able Canadian industry is to prepare to compete successfully for procurements when they come to market.

National Defence committee  I think Canadian industry has been aware of opportunities. They've been encouraged to participate in the F-35 program by both Lockheed Martin and the Canadian government. There's more work to be done by both Canadian industry and the Canadian government to ensure that we're maximizing those opportunities.

National Defence committee  I've identified a couple. I've identified the sustainment model and the plan the government has to sustain the 65 aircraft it intends to purchase, and the role that Canadian industry plays in support of that. We believe it to be extremely important for Canada to have the ability to maintain what it flies, sails, and drives, from a military perspective.

National Defence committee  Sir, if I've understood your question, though I don't know because it's not my place to know, I suspect if Lockheed Martin, in the development of a supply chain for the concept and then development and soon-to-be production, has identified Canadian companies to be within that supply chain and those Canadian companies are performing successfully within that supply chain, then it would be unusual for the program office to willy-nilly change its suppliers.

National Defence committee  Well, intellectual property is power. Those who have it are able to use it, and that is power market share. The acquisition by the Canadian government of intellectual property related to the F-35 program and the right to use and disclose that information will enable Canadian companies to participate at both the production phase and the sustainment phase of this program once the government has identified its sustainment plan.

National Defence committee  That's a--what's the right political word for that?--sneaky, good question.

National Defence committee  It's a challenge to understand how much of one person's job is allocated to or supported by a particular procurement or another. It's a challenge to do. Our thought, in our opening remarks, was that there needs to be some metric against which government, opposition parties, and the public can judge the effectiveness of this model, and jobs is but one of those possible metrics.

National Defence committee  We're not here to comment on the procurement strategy the government has adopted. What we're here to observe is that the record of Canadian industrial involvement in the F-35 program has been good to date, and that, in part, it's been good to date because of the early involvement of industry, collaboratively, with government.

National Defence committee  Yes, we have been participating in the development of this program. Very clearly, we've been participating in its development, and that's part of the economic return Canada has enjoyed from the program to date.

National Defence committee  If I understood your question correctly, sir, I am confident that Canadian industry and a number of leading aerospace companies are playing a meaningful role in the development and soon-to-be production of the F-35 next-generation fighter. Our encouragement of the government is to continue to look for opportunities where Canadian industry can participate as part of the supply chain in the production phase of this fleet and to maximize the opportunities available for Canadian industry to contribute at the sustainment phase of this fighter jet.

National Defence committee  No, and I would add that as with defence industry players the world over, their success is in part driven by their own innovation, their own marketing expertise, and what it is they're offering in terms of what a customer is looking for, either a good technology or service. It's connected to the willingness of the host government to be working collaboratively with those companies in order to optimize opportunities that companies like Magellan have in the domestic market and in markets around the world.

National Defence committee  Well, as we've tried to say in our opening remarks, it is a model, and we believe that model can be successful as long as the characteristics that I identified in my remarks are followed and executed upon. It's not the only model, but it is a model that can work effectively for Canada with the right environment.