National Defence Committee on Dec. 4th, 2025

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

He can start again. Mr. Chair, I would ask you to give me an extra 15 seconds if necessary.

[Jonathan Moor]

This is in addition to the main estimates.

These are for additional payments, which we are making now, in order to meet our obligations—either contractual obligations in the case of the River-class destroyer or memorandum of understanding obligations for the F-35 program.

They are additional. They're not the total amount of expenditures for the F-35 or the River-class destroyer programs this year.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

What I actually wanted to know is why.

[Jonathan Moor]

Maybe I can pass it to my colleague.

[Heather Sheehy, Assistant Deputy Minister, Materiel, Department of National Defence]

Certainly.

Good morning, Chair.

I would say that, as we manage contracts, it is not unusual for us to need to re-profile forward or backward between fiscal years as we continue to work with the companies—these are very big projects, as you can imagine—to make sure that we have the funding in the right fiscal year to meet our contractual agreements.

With respect to the River-class destroyers, we have, for example, just started construction on the first. That's an important milestone that we have reached this fiscal year, but we are always monitoring those payments.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

What is left to finance this year that would require a supplementary estimates (C)? Can you identify any sectors or subsectors?

[Heather Sheehy]

Yes, I have categories of spending that we're going to be using this funding for and the funding that we have in this fiscal year for the River-class destroyers. They're things like spare parts, ammunitions, tools, materials and other key supplies.

This funding is also going to be used to develop and deliver training so that our members are ready to operate the new ships when they arrive.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I just want to add something, Mr. Savard‑Tremblay.

It is important to remember that the money invested to build three River-class destroyers will contribute $719 million per year to our GDP and create 5,250 jobs per year between 2025 and 2039.

This shows that our investments in our industrial strategy and in our capabilities will be really good for the Quebec and Canadian economies.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

I am sure they will be, but we obviously need to make sure that the investments stay in the country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Charles Sousa]

Thank you.

Mr. Kibble, we're in our second round. You have five minutes.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here. You mentioned in your opening remarks new funding for emergency towing services on the British Columbia coast. Could you say again how much that is, please?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

It's $12.6 million.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you.

Weekly, there are U.S. heavy oil cargo barges that travel the inside passage along the Hecate Strait and up to Alaska from Washington.

What are these emergency towing services for?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

May I please ask the Coast Guard to answer?

[Marc Mes, Deputy Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard Programs, Department of National Defence]

Thank you for the question, Chair.

These emergency towing vessels have been in place since 2018. They were funded through the oceans protection plan. They provide a backstop for a disabled vessel. That emergency towing capability is a supplemental towing service that the Coast Guard—

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

It's a supplemental towing service. Thank you kindly.

This is for the minister. The secretary of state appeared here on October 23, and when a colleague asked him about the F-35 procurement review, he replied that it wasn't his file. That seems odd, given that it's the largest procurement project.

Is this your file that you're reviewing?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

To clarify, we're in an implementation phase on the F-35. If we were talking about the submarines, that's a file he would be more immediately involved in, with the new agency that has been stood up to procure.

It is a file right now that's being reviewed by—

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

He said the new Defence Investment Agency bureaucracy would not be handling that file.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

That's correct.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Okay. It's your file, then, that you're reviewing.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

That's correct.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you—

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

It's at the request of the Prime Minister.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Thank you.

We've heard from many industry experts and top air force generals that the F-35 is the best option for our next generation fighter, so what is the delay in this review?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

The delay is because we're going to make sure that we take the time we need to get this right. The Prime Minister has asked for a fundamental review. It's being performed.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, we saw lots of talk and lots of speculation. We're trying to drive through that, to be frank with you. The scuttlebutt, the gossip and the talk, which I call undisciplined talk, about acquiring something as important as a fighter jet is not something we're paying attention to. We're looking at the details. We're looking at industrial benefits. We're looking at Canadian companies.