Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. MacDiarmid, thank you very much for appearing before us on short notice. I appreciate it.
AECL signed a 40-year supply agreement with MDS Nordion in February of 2006 for the supply of isotopes. Everybody who has been following the MAPLE development, especially over the last while, could sense that its future is in jeopardy. We were talking with the minister about when the decision was really made, but I think the fact remains that it's been contemplated for a while.
Can you tell me why AECL did not engage MDS Nordion, given the 40-year supply contract and legal and financial obligations at the time, in trying to work out an agreement before the announcement was made?