National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here to brief you and take your questions on defence procurement, a subject for which I am largely accountable in the Department of National Defence. I have been the Assistant Deputy Minister, Materiel, for almost two

National Defence committee  Yes, thank you.

National Defence committee  Yes, thank you. I was involved and was aware of those discussions. The statement of requirements had not been finalized at the point when we had discussions about what the payload requirement was. Colonel Burt—the director of air requirements—and his staff had been thinking in t

National Defence committee  Exactly, sir.

National Defence committee  The weight you've referred to is in pounds. What was stated in our SOR was 39,000 kilograms, or 39 metric tonnes. All SORs are in metric.

National Defence committee  The C-17 will transport an Abrams tank, which is 70 metric tonnes, trans-Atlantic. That's what the U.S. Army designed the C-17 for. The C-17 will carry anything we own, not just two LAV IIIs.

National Defence committee  We posted our requirements to the market and we received several proposals. Unfortunately, the others were Russian aircraft that were not certified in North America, and we cannot fly our troops on uncertified aircraft.

National Defence committee  Yes, those restrictions do apply to DND employees who are dual nationals. An enormous amount of work is being done by the government, by us, with Foreign Affairs and with the State Department, to resolve this. Significant progress is being made, and we hope the government will be

National Defence committee  Yes, exactly.

National Defence committee  Normally, the CDS and the Deputy Minister discuss those issues.

National Defence committee  It is the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Hincke, General Ward, the deputy minister, and the commanders on the ground who state that there is an urgency--for example, I can no longer fix wings on things, they're not safe to fly, and it's affecting the ability to deliver criti

National Defence committee  It's decided in discussions with Industry Canada and Public Works about what's available on the market. If there is no doubt that a number of solutions are on the market, that is not a consideration, and there is a formal appel d'offres, or RFP. If there is doubt that a requireme

National Defence committee  It is National Defence's call whether or not to request a national security exemption under the agreement on internal trade. The assistant deputy minister at Public Works will review that, receive legal advice, and either approve it or not approve it.

National Defence committee  That is a military consideration in terms of the urgency, such as whether it's needed for operations or needed to replace a capability--i.e., our Hercules, which are rapidly dying. It's largely General Ward and General Hincke, with the vice-chief and the CDS.

National Defence committee  Yes, and the services. The three environmental chiefs contribute to that discussion.