Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos denied that the federal government's purchase of surveillance aircraft from Boeing was a favor from Canada to the United States in exchange for changes to the third-country safe agreement.

In an interview with Tout un matin, on the ICI Premiere program, on Friday, the federal minister defended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's decision to purchase at least 14 Boeing surveillance aircraft for more than $10 billion, including $5.9 billion for the aircraft themselves.

Also, by awarding a sole-source contract to the American giant Boeing, Ottawa ignored requests from the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, which called for proper tendering.

When host Patrick Masbourian asked the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, who negotiated the deal, whether we could conclude that this contract awarded to Boeing without a call for tenders was a quid pro quo in the United States after its approval, which surprised everyone, to modify the third-country safe agreement,

"No, not at all, it has nothing to do at all with the context that led to the important announcement [on Thursday]," Jean-Yves Duclos replied, before moving on to outline the main impacts that choosing Boeing might have on the aviation industry across the country.

He said that many companies in Quebec, Montreal, Mirabel, Longueuil, and Saint-Hubert already have contracts and strong relationships with Boeing, and these contracts are expected to grow and solidify.

Also regarding the third-country safe agreement, U.S. President Joe Biden, during his visit to the country last March, confirmed an agreement with Ottawa to broaden and update it. This is aimed at deterring irregular migration. Radio-Canada learned that Ottawa was able to convince Washington after tough negotiations.