OTTAWA – As part of the Opposition’s continuing attack on the government’s recent $9 billion purchase of advanced fighter jets, Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh is asking parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page to investigate a series of "sole-sourced procurement projects."
"Specifically, I would like a comparative analysis of the costs and benefits that different countries have experienced when acquiring the same piece of military equipment, where one country engaged in a competitive bidding process and the other country opted to make the purchase through a sole-sourced contract," Dosanjh, the Liberal defence critic, wrote to Page.
Page said in an interview that if he were to examine this issue – he still not sure it’s part of his office’s mandate – he would first need to resolve the matter of whether the contracts were issued competitively.
Dosanjh claims in his letter that, along with three other aircraft purchases, the Conservative government has spent $26 billion on sole-sourced contracts over the past four years.
Canadian taxpayers could have been spared 20 per cent of that total – or $5.2 billion – if bidding had been competitive, Dosanjh claimed, quoting figures from Alan Williams, the former assistant deputy minister for procurement at National Defence.
"It appears the Harper government may be deliberately choosing not to save money at a time when it is running the largest deficit in Canadian history," he said.
The Conservatives have denied claims the 65 new F-35 aircraft – to be built by the U.S. firm Lockheed Martin and ready for delivery by 2016 – were acquired without competition.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, at the announcement last week, said the planes were chosen as part of a U.S.-led competitive and "rigorous process" in 2001.
And speaking during a four-day trip to Afghanistan, he pointed out Wednesday that it was a Liberal government that initially joined the Joint Strike Fighter program, through which the F-35 Lightning II aircraft were developed in 1997.
"I find it staggering the hypocrisy of the Liberal party after what we saw happen with the EH-101 and the cancellation of that program," MacKay said, referring to then-prime minister Jean Chretien’s decision to scrap a signed contract for 28 new navy helicopters in 1993 at a time when the national deficit was high.
"(That decision) cost the country upwards of a billion dollars (in cancellation penalties), not to mention the stress and strain it put on the Canadian air force and putting lives at risk," he added.
"We are proud of this purchase, we’re proud of the people who will use it and we will stand behind them."
Meanwhile, at a news conference Wednesday, Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale contended it was the Pentagon that chose to develop the F-35 aircraft with Lockheed, not the Liberal government.
"Canada was a participant in the development phase, but is in no way bound to buy the F-35 without at least considering if another plane could meet our defence requirements at a lower cost," Goodale said.
"There is a discussion that needs to be had here about whether this is the right priority of equipment for Canada’s needs in the years ahead, and then secondly, whatever aircraft is the right aircraft to meet those needs," he said.
Canada is one of nine countries involved in the program, which also includes Britain and the U.S.
Comments