Mr. Chair, I'll repeat the government's formal response to the Auditor General of Canada in his report on the F-35 fighter jet acquisition: both National Defence and Public Works and Government Services Canada disagree with the conclusions the Auditor General sets out in paragraphs 2.80 and 2.81.
Those conclusions are as follows: that DND didn't perform basic due diligence of the $25 billion deal, and that DND failed to engage Public Works on a basic contracting requirement arising out the 2006 MOU.
The government says that the Auditor General was wrong in saying that serious problems had not been communicated to Parliament and to cabinet, that the Auditor General was wrong that Public Works didn't fulfill its responsibilities as the government's procurement authority, and that the Auditor General was wrong that Public Works failed its basic responsibilities when it accepted National Defence's word for it that the aircraft had to be sole-sourced.
Will those witnesses I presented to you, sir, help us to uncover whether or not your conclusions were wrong?