Government Operations committee  If he had specifically requested and I could really verify on the file—

Government Operations committee  I can confirm to you that the results of his evaluation were provided via letter.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  We've made the purchases. That said, for the tanks to be usable by the Canadian army, an upgrade is necessary, particularly with respect to telecommunications. We intend to issue a call for tenders to invite companies interested in making those upgrades to submit their bids.

Government Operations committee  We proceeded in two stages. In other words, we leased tanks from the German government, and we bought some from the Netherlands. The tanks that we bought from the Netherlands will require upgrades. However, those upgrades will be the subject of calls for tenders, and we expect to

Government Operations committee  There are obviously clauses. The German government has lent us tanks in good condition. If the tanks are damaged, we will restore them to good condition.

Government Operations committee  No, because it was stated up front in the request for proposal. So it's very--

Government Operations committee  It is not an amendment related to increasing the value of the contract. The companies are fully aware when they bid against those requirements about the total potential business volume--

Government Operations committee  --but the crown does not give them up front--

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  It is in the original package of potential work, but we don't yet have all the details on the work to be performed. When we do have that with the level of effort--

Government Operations committee  Yes, it will be in 2011.

Government Operations committee  That will be done gradually. We currently expect to begin receiving them in 2009, but the vast majority will be delivered in 2011.

Government Operations committee  It is true that the total estimated value of the contract could go up to $1.5 billion. For the evaluation process, we asked the companies who intended to send in their bid to provide us prices and level of effort for a total of approximately $57 million.

Government Operations committee  No, in the sense that in order to do a proper evaluation we provided the companies with a series of tasks to be performed, and we asked them to provide a level of effort against that for a total estimated price. Because there's a lot of repetition, of course--because we are talki