from DDGM began to design the vehicle by working on a small scale model of the LAV II chassis in which they cut off the troop compartment and added a large box on the rear half of the vehicle, which increased internal capacity along with replacing the two doors previously used for the troop compartment with a ramp similar to the style found on the M113. This small scale model was then shown to Dallaire, who was not interested in the proposal and continued to support the M113A3 acquisition. At this point DDGM decided to begin flexing lobbying muscles in 1988 to get the Canadian government to consider the vehicle more seriously. DDGM secured the support of Michael Wilson, the Minister of Finance, as well as members of Mobile Forces Command Headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, but engineers and executives of DDGM realized they would likely need the support of Dallaire to obtain the contract and decided that the way to win him over would be to build a full-scale prototype vehicle and present it to him. DDGM saw an opportunity to do this at Canadian Forces Base Borden for Armed Forces Day on June 5, 1988, as both Dallaire and Beatty would be attending the event. With this the engineers had little time to spare to produce a prototype of the vehicle and began by starting with a LAV-25 that had been used in tests to judge if the LAV-25 could be airdropped from transport aircraft. Similar to the small scale model, they began by cutting off the troop compartment while keeping the suspension, drive-train, and front half of the vehicle intact. The cut-off area was cut piece by piece and then welded together to create a box on the rear half of the vehicle and was then fitted with a ramp. The turret ring was then replaced with a large folding roof hatch and a raised commander cupola was added on the front left of the vehicle behind the driver. The entire process to produce the prototype took eight days, after which the "Bison", as named by DDGM, was assembled, painted and ready to be shown. After this it was driven up to CFB Borden and was presented during the parade on Armed Forces Day and was considered to be a success, with Beatty coming on board with the idea but stating that he would not force the army's