National Defence committee  We have not had any specific feedback on that. If you look at the sorts of requirements that can be dealt with by that ombudsman, as opposed to those that might go to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal--or would have to go to court should there be a national security exception invoked--they are not really in the kind of capital acquisition zone that most of our members would be interested in approaching.

National Defence committee  I think there's another factor, and that is that the way in which those sets of statistics are kept is quite different. One of the things is that in the Canadian system an ACAN procurement is deemed to have been competitive. It's a bit like one of those “How many angels can dance on the head of pin” questions.

National Defence committee  I don't think there's one answer to that, unfortunately. It depends on what you're buying; whether that product is in a development stage; whether it's a mature product that you're buying off the shelf, in essence a commodity; and that it can shift during a very long program. For instance, if one were going to buy some helicopters and they were in production, then you might say the risk should be placed on the contractor who has a production line and proven design.

National Defence committee  I think there are a number of factors in what you're talking about. I would separate out the idea of whether it's the play between the departments. I would definitely start with the issue of the performance specs that I addressed before. I won't go into that in depth now. I think the government has an investment strategy, and for its own reasons that investment strategy is not a public document.

National Defence committee  Risk sharing was something I think I heard in the consultations across the country in every location we went to. It is more profound than just the terms and conditions, although people have strong opinions on things like unlimited indemnification, where they are simply unable, unwilling....

National Defence committee  Thank you very much for your question. You start, quite rightly, with the issue of how requirements are specified and you hold up as an example the United States mission system approach. I would say that the Department of National Defence has made some efforts to move more toward mission system or performance specifications.