Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would also like to thank General Deschamps and Colonel Burt for being here today.
General, thank you for your overview of the technical needs, which the parliamentary secretary presented in committee a month ago.
I know my colleagues also have questions to ask and there will be other rounds.
General, we were very concerned about the Auditor General's recent report with respect to the Chinook helicopters. I know you share that concern. I think the minister certainly expressed his concern clearly on seeing the Auditor General's report, as well as his acceptance of her analysis and his commitment to ensuring that the air force does better in subsequent procurements.
In the Chinook helicopter procurement, one of her criticisms, as you know, was the escalation of costs because of modifications and changes that were made after the initial decision to proceed. She identified a number of steps at which the costs ended up almost doubling and she identified a lot of the responsibility for that around changes that were made during the process. She also commented that the ongoing support costs weren't properly calculated, and she identified perhaps a billion dollars that the defence department may have to reassign for having underestimated the cost of operating the Chinooks.
The Chinooks were an operating aircraft. The F-35 certainly is not as familiar as the Chinook helicopters might be. What reassurances can you give us, General, that with respect to the F-35 purchase--which is much more expensive than the Chinook purchase--some of those mistakes won't be repeated?