We do in fact know what the costs are, Mr. Chair. I just stated not five minutes ago that it'll be roughly in the area of $250 million annually, and that price may come down. That's a result of being part of the global supply chain. It's the part of being in a competition that allowed us to make that decision. So any suggestion that being outside that process now would be to Canada's advantage is simply wrong. It's wrong-headed. It's factually incorrect.
We've been the beneficiaries of being part of a continuum that goes back to 1997. That was the initial decision, to go into the concept demonstration phase. Then in February of 2002, we entered into the system development and demonstration phase. In 2006 we entered the production and sustainment phase and follow-on development phase, and then of course we made a further investment. Then in 2008, there was a very clear public declaration in the Canada First defence strategy that we would be replacing the next generation of fighters.
All of this is on the public record. All of the evaluation is there, and there's been much public commentary. In fact, I would quote a member of this committee, Mr. LeBlanc, who's here with us. He said:
I have every confidence that Canadian companies would be well qualified to compete for defence contracts. Our expertise in many sectors of these industries is world leading....Our cooperation with the United States, for example on joint strike fighters has earned Canadian companies substantial industrial benefits.
This is from Hansard, dated October 23, 2003.
I completely agree with the defence critic for the Liberal Party, Mr. LeBlanc.