National Defence committee  I'm saying there'd be more jobs. But what I can guarantee is the same companies, the same contracts as the F-35, are going to be the ones to benefit. Hence, if you have a contract for the F-35s then you're going to do all you can to make sure that's not challenged or that's not put at risk.

National Defence committee  There are a lot of different evaluation strategies, and we can go into that, and not just those two. We can talk a lot about different ways of evaluating which bid is best and there are instances when one is appropriate and one is not.

National Defence committee  That's why you now have different NATO standards in communications. All I am saying is, if you have certain requirements to be interoperable in whatever dimension--communications and others--put that out in the open and let's see who can respond. I'm not saying buy something that doesn't meet our needs.

National Defence committee  I would say they are not paid to make the decisions in this country. In this country that is not what they are accountable for.

National Defence committee  Well, I would suggest they don't.

National Defence committee  They are, but they have different roles and responsibilities from those in Canada. I am proud of the ones we have here. And those are not the accountabilities for our military.

National Defence committee  No question about it. Absolutely.

National Defence committee  Absolutely.

National Defence committee  Absolutely.

National Defence committee  Given that there is a statement of requirements out there, and I'm led to believe there is, the process from going from that stage to signing a contract need not take long. I would point out that we talked about seeking the replacement on December 17, 2003. The minister, David Pratt, said to go ahead and buy.

National Defence committee  I wouldn't comment on it. I always trusted industry--

National Defence committee  I know, but when I was in charge I always was respectful of their accountability. They are accountable for determining those things, and I wouldn't be in a position to challenge it.

National Defence committee  What I am on record as saying is that the primary focus is getting the right aircraft. Once you've done that then certainly jobs are important and certainly the cost is important. There are other things. But the paramount in buying anything military has to be is this the best thing for our men and women in the military who are giving their lives?

National Defence committee  That's why, in any competition, frankly, any bidder has to meet the technical requirements, and then price is a factor. The industrial and regional benefit is a pass-fail thing, right? It's not weighted. It's there. You either can do it or you can't, because you don't want to say you're not getting the best product because of IRBs.

National Defence committee  I'd only say that I'm very proud of how we do things here in Canada, our processes and our people. I have no doubt that were we to undertake a competition, we would be very effective. I just want to make one other point. It's interesting that at the very time we're talking about all this sole-sourcing, the U.S. in fact last year, as you're probably aware, passed the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, signed by the President.