OTTAWA — Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page is, once again, digging into the costs of the F-35 fighter jets — the embattled program that has been plaguing the Conservatives for weeks.
Liberal defence critic John McKay asked Page to perform another costing for the purchase and maintenance of the war planes. The request comes just weeks after the auditor general’s maiden report revealed a $10-billion discrepancy between internal and public estimates (find the letter in full, at the bottom of this page).
“It’s time we stop flying blind on the largest military purchase in this country’s history,” Liberal leader Bob Rae said Wednesday.
For months, before Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s April 3 report, the government was unwavering in peddling a $14.7 billion price tag for buying and maintaining a fleet of 65 F-35s for 20 years; that’s the dollar figure the Conservatives waved proudly leading into and throughout last year’s election campaign, assuring Canadians they were getting the best jet at a good deal.
This is the second time Page has been asked to calculate an estimate of the government’s plan to buy 65 F-35 fighter jets.
He released his first estimate in March 2011, weeks before the Conservatives lost a confidence vote in the House of Commons, sending the country into an election.
Page’s calculations found the program would cost about $30 billion over 30 years — a figure the government ridiculed and said was groundless.
Earlier this month, however, the auditor general’s report revealed internal estimates at National Defence pegging the cost at $25 billion over 20 years — an estimate more in line with that of the budget officer’s.
Ferguson’s report indicated National Defence withheld information from Canadians and from Parliament, and disregarded the government’s own guidelines for calculating the life cycle costs for military procurements.
Critics of the program and the way government went about selecting the fighter jets have been loud and numerous.
Paul Maillet, a retired senior air force colonel and aerospace engineer was in Ottawa Wednesday, said the F-35 is the wrong choice for Canadians and suggested the purchase be put on hold until the government establishes a “fair and transparent” process.
The jet, he said, is too risky, too expensive and a “serious mismatch,” especially in terms of the country’s Arctic needs.
“How do you get a single-engine, low-range, low-payload, low-manoeuvrability aircraft … to operate effectively in the North?” he asked.
Maillet, who ran for the Green party in two federal elections, said the money being set aside for the F-35s would be better spent on education and health care.
The House of Commons public accounts committee has been planning a study of the issue, with hearings set to begin with an appearance form Ferguson on Thursday.
In his letter to Deputy Minister of Defence Robert Fonberg, Page asked specifically for “operating and support costs,” which the department notably left out of the publicly-released estimates and the documentation handed to Page’s office last year for its initial estimate.
“In the past, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has called Mr. Page’s reporting ‘unbelievable, unreliable, incredible,’ but the AG’s report has him eating crow,” Liberal defence critic McKay said. “It’s time that this government finally respect Mr. Page’s office and give him the necessary documentation so he can do his job.”
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F35 PBO Letter to Fonberg 230412 (PDF)
F35 PBO Letter to Fonberg 230412 (Text)
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