National Defence committee  It'll be our pleasure.

National Defence committee  Yes, that's it, you guys are the experts. But you know--

National Defence committee  Okay, you've had the experts. You've listened to the experts.

National Defence committee  We have to take their word for it.

National Defence committee  We understand that. What I'm wondering is, how come we don't have an MOU or a memorandum of agreement on development of the Boeing aircraft? How come we don't have one with the Europeans, who are also developing an aircraft? Is Lockheed Martin the only company that can develo

National Defence committee  That's what I don't know. I'm not aware of that.

National Defence committee  Sir, as I said, I'm not necessarily aware of the technology they're developing, but I've read reports--university reports, studies--and as I said, I'm not an aircraft expert, but some say it's not necessarily--

National Defence committee  I'd like to speak about the MOU. I believe that somebody is trying to make us justify getting into that MOU, right? We're not arguing whether it's the right thing or the wrong thing. What if the Canadian government had decided to buy an aircraft from Boeing? Would it have been th

National Defence committee  My comments are pretty much the same as Jerry's. We have policies within the union to buy union-made, to buy Canadian, to make sure we generate some return in the economy, and to make sure we keep people working here. When I buy printed documents, they've got to be from somebod

National Defence committee  These companies subcontract it, and there's no guarantee for them. There's nothing stating that they have to keep the work here.

National Defence committee  I believe the only way would be negotiations with Lockheed Martin. We can't guarantee that here. The Canadian companies that are going to bid on the work can't guarantee it. I believe the only one that can guarantee it is Lockheed Martin.

National Defence committee  It seems that there's a little bit of time left. A good example of when I'm talking about politics is the CL-415. That's the water bomber. I used to work on that plane. Can it put out forest fires quicker than a helicopter with a bucket? Why aren't the Americans buying it? Beca

National Defence committee  I am not an economist, but one thing that bothers me is the value of the dollar. We have received a lot of work from American companies that came here because it cost them 60¢ rather than $1. Now, it is more difficult for us to get contracts from the United States. We used to hav

National Defence committee  No. I'm giving you an example. Mexico is one, or Brazil. There are other countries that are low-cost countries that can build those parts.

National Defence committee  Sir, my question to you is, is that a guarantee?