Thank you, Chair.
It's nice to see you back, gentlemen and madam.
Mr. Fonberg, a document—actually, it was a Treasury Board Secretariat report—went to Parliament last year that talked about the F-35 and the $25 billion as being in “definitions” phase. So looking at the chart, on pages 12 and 13 of the AG's report in chapter 2, I noticed that just this year, that actual wording got changed to “options analysis”.
When I look at the chart, sir, under 2006, it says that “National Defence completed a preliminary options analysis of five...aircraft”. It goes through a series of steps, and then, when it comes to 2010, “National Defence provided letter to PWGSC to justify procuring F-35 without competition”.
Can you explain to me, sir, how “definitions” phase became “options analysis” phase eight months after it was reported to Parliament, when indeed you had decided to buy an F-35, or at least that was the letter you sent to Public Works?