After Stephen Harper was contradicted last week by the government’s former head of defence procurement, the Liberal Party has laid out three clear questions for the government to answer regarding the Conservative government’s $16-billion F-35 stealth fighter deal. Without clear and forthright answers, Liberals will commit to cancelling the sole-sourced deal upon forming government and instead hold an open competition to replace Canada’s CF-18s.
“Liberals want to replace the CF-18s, but we expect honest answers from the government to ensure we’re getting the right plane and the best possible deal for taxpayers and the Canadian aerospace industry,” said Liberal Industry Critic Marc Garneau. “Today, we are setting down a marker of the specific criteria that the government must address in an honest manner.”
Last week, Alan Williams, the former Assistant Deputy Minister of defence responsible for procurement, testified before Parliament that it was a mistake to go to a sole-source competition and that an open competition would get the best fighter at the lowest price with the most jobs. In a vitriolic response, Stephen Harper said that Mr. Williams had changed his opinion since he was in government – a charge that Mr. Williams called an “absolute lie.”
“This is the single largest military procurement in Canadian history,” said Liberal Defence Critic Dominic LeBlanc. “We are deeply concerned that the government hasn’t been straight with Canadians, and that without competition, we’re not getting the right plane, the best price, or the greatest benefits for our aerospace industry.”
Mr. Garneau and Mr. LeBlanc set out the following questions on the F-35 deal:
- What are the defence priorities and the domestic and foreign mission requirements that our new fighter jets must be able to support?
- What are the roles, capabilities and operational performance requirements that any new fighter must be able to meet in order to support these future domestic and international priorities and missions?
- What evidence does the government have to demonstrate that their deal gets the right equipment for our Air Force while achieving the following:
- The lowest cost and best value for taxpayer dollars, with controls to prevent cost escalation; and
- Guaranteed regional benefits with a transfer of intellectual property to grow the Canadian aerospace industry, including in-service support?
“Without compelling answers to each of these questions, we don’t understand why the government is sole-sourcing a plane chosen by the Pentagon,” said Mr. LeBlanc. “It seems like all of our NATO allies are questioning the skyrocketing costs of the F-35, so why is the Canadian government alone in writing a blank cheque to Lockheed Martin with no questions asked?”
There is no penalty for cancelling the current deal and holding an open competition for our next fighter jet. A Liberal government would remain committed to the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding that gives Canadian industry access to F-35 contracts, without any obligation to purchase the planes.
“If the Conservatives don’t provide us with satisfactory answers, we will cancel this deal and hold an open competition upon forming government,” concluded Mr. Garneau. “An open competition – which could still result in the selection of the F-35 – would provide better value to taxpayers, guarantee industrial regional benefits for manufacturing and maintenance, and result in knowledge transfer to help build our aerospace industry.”
